 What is this game about?
House of Danger is a choose your own adventure game, based on a CYOA book with the same name. In this gamified implementation of the book, you and your fellow players will read story cards, make decisions about what to do next, collect items and clues, and try to survive to the end of the tale. (Don't worry though—if you die, you're just sent back to the previous card with some minor consequences, and you can take a different path forward.) You'll need to manage your level of psychic sensitivity, which can help you find extra clues, as well as the "danger level" in the game, which affects the difficulty of the die rolls you'll need in order to pass in-game challenges. The cards themselves direct you very smoothly from one card to the next, so you won't find yourself "lost" in the game at any point. The story contains five chapters, each of which comes with its own story and clue decks. Some items, however, can carry over from earlier chapters to later ones. How does it play solo? This game may be at its best when played solo—it's a lot of text, and it really does navigate like a board game version of a CYOA book. It is also fun with two people, but I'm not sure it would be enjoyable with more, since the experience is closer to reading a book than it is to playing a full-on board game. Overall Thoughts House of Danger is the type of game you play when you just want to relax. It's very light, with the emphasis placed squarely on enjoying the story cards and having a good time. While losing certain challenges can cause you to miss out on important items in the game, there are plenty of ways forward, and no particularly brutal consequences for mistakes. Instead, you should just go with the flow and reach one of the several possible endings. (Then, if you like, you can play again to see if you get a different result.) If you enjoy books from the Choose Your Own Adventure series, this game will be a fun and nostalgic adventure for you. If you are looking for an intense gaming experience, look elsewhere. The story is fun, but random, and it's not one of those tales where you can win by making logical choices. Sometimes, bad stuff will just happen, and all you can do is laugh it off and try again. Overall, House of Danger isn't particularly deep or memorable, but it's fun while you have it. If you take it for what it is, you'll have a great time. Do I recommend it? If you are looking for a fun, light, story-driven gaming experience, then go for it! Overall Rating: 3 stars 5 stars — I love it! 4 stars — I really like it. 3 stars — I like it. 2 stars — It's okay. 1 star — Meh.
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 Late December isn't the wildest time on Kickstarter, but there are some interesting projects out there to peruse! If you're looking to get yourself a little something for Christmas, you won't have to look too far. Roll Through the Ages: The Iron Age If you're in the market for an interesting roll and write, then Eagle-Gryphon Games has your back--Roll Through the Ages: The Iron Age is a sequel to RTtA: Bronze Age, and it's being reprinted as a nice bookshelf edition. Interestingly, this Kickstarter campaign includes a number of different games, so if Roll Through the Ages isn't your thing, you can look at The Plutonian, Karesansui, Morocco, Wombat Rescuer, and more. In fact, if you're interested in picking up the entire bookshelf series, here is your chance. I don't think I've seen a Kickstarter campaign quite like this one. Probably the most interesting thing about this KS campaign, however, is that the games are already printed and on the boat, so you can expect February delivery.  Castle Itter: The Strangest Battle of WWII Dan Verssen Games' campaign for Castle Itter: The Strangest Battle of WWII will be active for only 4 more days, so if you want this one, jump on quick! Like its predecessor, Pavlov's House (which is getting a ton of buzz), this game is about being trapped in a building and holding out against the Germans against brutal odds. If you are looking for a solitaire game rooted in real history, with brutal survival situations and interesting decisions to be made. I wish this one were happening after Christmas, so I'd have a better chance of being able to back it!  Cultistorm
I'm not sure what to think of Cultistorm, which bills itself as "more than an ordinary board game" and is "an expression of our respect and love for Lovecraft." I like a good Mythos game as much as anyone, but I feel uncomfortable with the idea of too much respect and love for a flagrant racist (and pretty blah writer, in my opinion). This is apparently a sprawling cooperative game, initially for 3–5 players, but there are nine expansions planned as stretch goals for the campaign, as well as books of flash fiction and a soundtrack. It seems like a whole lot is going on with Cultistorm. It's definitely going to fund, but I'm personally giving it a pass.  What is this game about?
Dice Stars is an abstract, number-crunching roll and write that involves only a handful of different-colored dice and a scorepad. Each turn, you will roll dice to contribute to a pool, then draft one or more of them. You can either take all dice of one number, all dice of one color, or all dice with stars on them. But these choices are tricky, and will affect your score and your flexibility during later turns of the game. The game will end if one player fills up all of the main scoring spaces on a score sheet, or when a player needs to take a die from the pool and can't because that part his or her score card is full. And the star dice offer the trickiest choice of all—each row has a different number of star spaces, and if you fill them all, you can double your score for the row. However, if you start filling up star spaces on a row but don't finish before the end of the game, you get zero points for that row. It's up to you to decide what you will risk! How does it play solo? Dice Stars plays roughly the same way for one player as it does for several, but you'll be playing against a timer/AI opponent that scores based on the dice left in the pool at the end of each of your turns. The solo game is less passive-aggressive than the multiplayer version of the game because there is no hate drafting, but the timer is tough to beat and offers a pretty good challenge. Overall Thoughts Dice Stars is like an iPhone game—temporarily .addictive, but ultimately forgettable. I went through an initial period where I played this game repeatedly, and it's a quick one, which makes it easy to chain game after game together in close succession. However, the theme is so abstract that I found myself having little to latch onto after the initial rush of learning to play. I'm burnt out on Dice Stars now, and I'm not sure I can imagine myself wanting to play it again. There are a lot of good roll and write games out there, and while this one is decent, I wouldn't say it's the best. Do I recommend it? If you like roll and write games and find Dice Stars for a good price (it's currently about $16 on Amazon), it's entertaining until it wears out its welcome. Overall Rating: 3 stars Rating Scale: 5 stars — I love it! 4 stars — I really like it. 3 stars — I like it. 2 stars — It's okay. 1 star — Meh.  Merry Christmas! Hope you don't have to buy gifts for anyone else in your life, because you'll definitely want to buy several for yourself if Kickstarter keeps going like this. Let's get down to business. 1. Ragusa I did not give Ragusa a second thought until this weekend, when Jeremy Howard from Jambalaya Plays Games taught me to play it at PAXU. I am so glad he did, because I enjoyed the hell out of this game. Ragusa is a euro-style city builder, but it's not quite like any other game I have ever played. You place buildings and get resources, but there are a ton of fascinating mechanics that spice it up. Depending on where you place buildings, you can collect up to three different resources, as well as trigger opponent actions—or enjoy the benefits when they place buildings and help you! There are also secret objectives that give you special goals in the game, and extra ways to score. I haven't gotten to play a game solo, but I spent some time checking out the solo AI cards, and what I see is really promising. I will go out of my way to back this one.  2. Nemo's War: Bold & Caring and Dramatis Personae Expansions If you like Nemo's War, rejoice! There are a couple of expansion packs to add a little extra spice to an already-good game. Get some new game-changing motives for Captan Nemo, as well as some new adventures to experience. Also, if you still don't own a copy of the base game, it's possible to pick it up by pledging to this campaign. The expansions are reasonably priced ($12 for the two new ones), so if you're already a fan of Nemo's War, this is an easy back.  3. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
This campaign doesn't actually hit KS until December 5, but there is a preview page that I've linked to in this post. If you're looking for another big box campaign game with a lot of miniatures, this one might be for you. Your campaign can have several different endings, and you'll be able to develop your characters across several play sessions. Also, Adam Smith of Rolling Solo has some gameplay videos out on YouTube, so you can see it for yourself.  All set up and ready to go! Before PAXU, I had never before demoed a board game. It's no surprise that I enjoyed it—I am a teacher by trade, and I love helping people learn and appreciate new things. But showing people how to play a board game over and over again also does a lot of interesting things to your relationship with that game. Especially if you only play the first 2–3 turns of it repeatedly, without ever getting to finish.
I wrote a positive review of Stellar Leap earlier this year, and I am a fan of Carla Kopp's solo bots. So Stellar Leap was the game that I demoed several times this weekend. I smoothed out my patter, found my weak spots in terms of remembering the rules, and learned what aspects of the game were most challenging for new players so that I could focus on explaining them better next time. I also, however, learned pretty much every card in the planet and event decks. I need a few months before I play this game again. That said, I remain a fan of Stellar Leap. Actually, I think more highly of it as a game now than I did before I demoed it. I typically revisit games and my reviews of them anyway, but it was an especially cool experience to return to a game again and play it so intensely. I found myself thinking about strategies and desperately wanting to finish (or watch someone else finish) a full game, because I wanted to see what could happen. I have had a lot of time to contemplate Stellar Leap, and I definitely have a few new tricks up my sleeve to try the next time I go up against the AI during a solo session. I think my biggest takeaway from this experience is: Never, ever agree to demo a game you don't enjoy. Demoing is a highly repetitive process, and there are going to be moments when your voice is failing or when you're tired of explaining the same rules for the 15th time that day. You will burn out on the game you are teaching to others, right at the moment when you're trying to help them see its charms. But as with any relationship, if you're spending lots of time with a game you really like, you'll end up glad that you put in that time... even if you also need to take a break. This experience has also given me so much more respect for people who playtest their games extensively and who demo them at cons. It's probably different when you're showing off your "baby," but still—that is commitment.  Nick Kopp surveys his new domain. The day before PAX was surprisingly quiet. I got in early on Thursday morning to help set up the booth for Weird Giraffe Games, where I will be demoing this weekend. #1606! Come say hello! I've never demoed before, nor have I been to a convention bigger than Dice Tower Con. But I also never shy away from a challenge, and I think I'm going to have a great time this weekend. So far, so good! Our first step of the day yesterday was booth setup, which was a really interesting process to see from 'the other side." Before now, I gotten to see finished booths and just have the experience of shopping around at them. I never really processed the fact that before the booths go up, you are basically inside of a huge, empty space. All of those table spaces, floors, display counters, shelves, what have you are actually transported and assembled by publishers the day before the convention starts. Our first act of the day was to haul boxes of stuff in from the loading docks to where the booth was located. We are a small outfit and used a dolly or two to transport everything. Later in the day, bigger publishers and companies were in there with forklifts. It was wild!  Floor check! It's all the little things in a booth that you never think about. Or at least, that I never think about. Before assembling furniture or unboxing games for demo/sale, we started with the foundation—a floor for the booth! Not everyone bothers with a booth floor, but I think ours is pretty cool. It's also little stuff like this that reminds me why I appreciate Carla Kopp so much as a game designer and as a person in general. That level of attention to detail and general giving a damn never ceases to impress me. I especially dig the Okapi-shaped cutouts in some of the foam tiles. How cool is that?  Time for finishing touches! After flooring comes furniture assembly, shelving, and generally trying to make the place look decent. Let's just say it was a good thing I wasn't in charge of this project—I would never have thought of stuff like nice coverings for the tables, enough banners to advertise games, a display shelf for smaller items. Now that I've seen this stuff in action, I know. But the learning curve for a high quality booth setup might be steeper than I realized! It was also really cool to look around and see other teams of people pouring their hearts into their own small patches of floor space. It was like watching a tiny city spring up overnight! And of course, our own little home patch got done eventually. I also had time to do a bunch of other really cool stuff. I got to hang out and play games with friends all afternoon and evening—obviously the best part of any convention. And I got to meet and interview Keith Matejka! We had never met before, and it turns out that he is very nice and very fun to talk to about solo gaming. Keep an eye out on my channel for some snippets of our conversation!
Here's hoping that the first "real" day of PAXU is as enjoyable as Day 0.  What is this game about?
Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game is exactly what it sounds like—it's a game in which you (and some friends, if you so choose) work together to solve mysteries. The game consists of five interconnected cases, with a sixth case available as a mini expansion. The way this game is set up is interesting. You have a limited amount of time and resources: Each case has a strict time limit, and your detective team will also have a limited pool of tokens that can be used to push for more information. So you start each case with a deck of 35 cards, but you cannot realistically expect to get through them all. Instead, you'll just have to do your best and work with what you've uncovered by the time the clock runs out. Also interesting is that the clues are partially printed on cards, but you'll also be working with an online database that serves as a companion to each case. The Antares database includes files on various people you encounter, records of interrogations, and—my favorite—DNA and fingerprint matching capabilities so that you can track who touched what, who bled where, etc. Once you run out of time on a case, it's time to fill out the "final report," which is essentially a multiple choice quiz. You'll get a score based on how many correct answers you can produce, minus the number of "stress tokens" you used when you pushed yourself a little too far during the game. How does it play solo? I personally prefer this game solo, although I can see how others might prefer to work with others. There is definitely enough going on for multiple people to have something to do—take notes, sort clue cards, check the computer. But the bookkeeping was in no way too complicated for me to handle myself. I did the first case with a group and then again solo, and I caught so much more information the second time. I played through the following four cases solo and enjoyed them. Overall Thoughts Detective is not a perfect board game, but it's a really fun one. The flavor text on the cards is cheesy as hell (how many sludgy coffees can a detective consume while sitting in uncomfortable metal chairs?) but I got a real kick out of it. And the overall storyline of the case was really interesting, so much so that I played the whole game out over the course of one long Saturday. I just couldn't help myself! I loved using the Antares database online, especially when I was able to do fingerprint and DNA matches. It made me feel just a little bit like a real cop. Portal Games makes a big deal out of board games that tell stories, and Detective certainly is one. That said, there were times when Detective was just a little too "gamey" for me. I often chafed against the restrictions of the investigation tokens, which often felt unfairly limited to me. I mostly enjoyed trying to stay within the time limits, but I would have preferred not to worry about them. And in Case 5, there was an extra mechanic that I won't discuss too much here (I don't want to spoil anything for you!), but I didn't really enjoy dealing with it while I played. Of course, my opinion is definitely connected to my personal feelings about how mystery games should be played. I never bother with the technical rules in Sherlock Homes: Consulting Detective, because I'd much rather "wander around" in the game world and read all of the flavor text. You can't get away with that in Detective so much, because of the way the cases are set up, especially in the later installments. I should warn you that, while the "Final Report" will make you feel like you should have definitive answers, you will often find yourself going with your gut. Don't let it freak you out—just go with your best guesses. Probably the least satisfying aspect of Detective was the scoring system, since you could guess a lot of right answers but still feel uncertain about the case or be upset about events that occurred during the investigation (I won't spoil the story by elaborating). I also wasn't entirely convinced that the final case truly tied the plot together. Not everything seemed to make perfect sense in the end. But the ride was exhilarating, and I would definitely play a game like Detective again. Do I recommend it? If you like trying to solve mysteries and can handle the fact that you'll have to go with your gut a lot, then yes. Detective is highly entertaining and well worth the time it takes to play through it. Overall Rating: 3.5 stars 5 stars — I love it. 4 stars — I really like it. 3 stars — I like it. 2 stars — It's okay. 1 star — Meh.  Welcome to this week's Kickstarter roundup! There are a couple of notable projects out there for solo gamers this week, so let's get down to business (if you can stand to move after all that turkey we ate last week). 1. Rallyman: GT Rallyman has been a staple for a large contingent of solo gamers for years, despite it being out of print. It's a roll-and-move racing game with regular BGG challenges based on it, and it only dropped from the People's Choice Top 100 solo games this year after several years on the list. (Flamme Rouge was the big racing game on the People's Choice this year.) But now Rallyman is back, with brand new art and fine-tuned rules. Is Rallyman ready to reclaim its place as the premier racing game for solo players?  2. Hero Realms Journeys
I am a fan of both Star Realms and Hero Realms, so this one was an instaback for me. Continue the campaign you started with Ruin of Thandar with The Lost Village adventure, plus get booster packs that give you new champions, new quests, new relics, and even new ancestries. If you wanted to play as a dwarven mage, now is your change! If you're already into Hero Realms, this will be an easy decision for you. If you're not and you're interested in hopping on board, there is a pledge tier that allows you to get everything made for it so far for $99. In a world where people charge you $100+ for a new game without even blinking, I guess that's not so expensive anymore.  Full disclosure: Triton Noir provided me with a review copy of V-Commandos. What is this game about? V-Commandos is a game set during World War II. You and your fellow players cooperatively control up to four commandos as you sneak into Nazi bases and work together to complete various objectives. The game comes with several different terrain layouts and scenarios, which you can either play as one-off missions or chain together as part of larger operations. (This is why the play time on the box varies so widely—from 30 to 120 min.) The Nazis are controlled by simple AI rules that can nevertheless give your commandos a serious challenge. Probably the most significant aspect of V-Commandos is its emphasis on stealth, which is unusual in a board game. Your characters will start off in stealth mode, and it's in your best interest to keep them that way for as long as possible. If (more like when) a commando becomes visible, he or she triggers an alarm and causes additional enemies to pour onto the map from every possible entrance point. One thing you don't want too much of, though, is outright combat. Your commandos don't have much health, and can't take too many hits. Even worse, every injury you sustain results in a reduced number of actions you can take on the following turn. This aspect of gameplay is what really sets V-Commandos apart from other board games I've played. How does it play solo? V-Commandos solos well. It is fully cooperative, and can easily be soloed using as many commandos as a scenario demands (1 to 4). The enemy AI is very easy to operate, which means that you don't get held up doing administrative work when all you want to do is play.  Don't. Get. Caught. Overall Thoughts
Stealth is one of my favorite video game mechanics, and I'm happy to see a board game that tries to implement it. (I even blogged about this back in 2016.) That said, do not expect analog stealth gameplay to feel like being a Khajiit assassin in Skyrim. Your ability to remain hidden depends on rolling a die for stealth checks, which means that sometimes you will just get unlucky and be spotted. If there were some way to tie stealth to skill just a little more tightly, V-Commandos would probably be a 5-star game for me. If you can deal with the fact that a run of bad luck can blow your cover, then V-Commandos is a lot of fun. There are a lot of different strategies to try, which makes the game intensely interesting and gives it plenty of replay value. Don't panic when you inevitably fail a stealth check:The game allows you to make interesting choices when it comes to how you'll handle the AI. Will you allow one commando to become visible so he can lead the enemy away from your other agents—or into a TNT trap? Will you use a crowbar to block the door and temporarily shut enemy reinforcements out while you run wild inside their base? What combination of commandos will be best for a given mission? As you learn the game, be prepared for a few rules ambiguities. This game comes with English and French rulebooks, but it's pretty clear that the English has been translated from the French, and there are a few awkward sentences in there. I had to look up a few of the event cards on BGG, as well. That said, I am really pleased with the way the rules are set up. In addition to the rulebook, there is a set of training scenarios that introduce you to the rules in manageable chunks—something I really appreciated and would like to see in other games. Do I recommend it? Yes. If you don't mind controlling multiple characters, V-Commandos is a fun one. It's relatively light, but it offers an interesting puzzle and a unique stealth mechanic. I will definitely be keeping it in my own collection. Overall Rating: 4 stars Rating Scale: 5 stars — I love it! 4 stars — I really like it. 3 stars — I like it. 2 stars — It's okay. 1 star — Meh.  'Tis the season for Kickstarter, apparently. October was a wild month, and November isn't letting up on us one bit. There are several projects of possible interest to solo gamers. 1. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice I love the Assassin's Creed video games, as well as pretty much any game with a stealth mechanic. That means I am very interested in this project. Ubisoft has partnered with Triton Noir, publisher of V-Commandos, to create an Assassin's Creed board game, and I think that's an ideal partnership. V-Commandos is a fun cooperative game set during WWII, in which you control commandos who are infiltrating Nazi bases to fulfill various objectives. It's a fun game that hasn't gotten a ton of exposure in the U.S., mostly because you can't find it at retail stores. (You have to buy it directly from Triton Noir.) Assassin's Creed will use a lot of the same mechanics, but fold them into a campaign system that will help create a larger storyline. There are also cool touches that fit with the Assassin's Creed theme, such as the ability to unlock memories or acquire special weapons. If you like V-Commandos (and I do), then Assassin's Creed is worth a look. If you aren't sure, keep an eye on this site for my review of V-Commandos—it's almost ready to go! (Update: Here's the review!)  2. Archmage: Ascendant I recently reviewed Archmage, and it's a game that is good for solo and really good with a group. This expansion will offer new spell cards and new options for solo/cooperative play—and at a great price ($30). The one thing that was "missing" from the base game was more spell variety, and the new gameplay options that this expansion is offering look truly exciting. Starling Games is also reprinting the Archmage base game, so this is a good time to pick it up if you're interested.  3. Perdition's Mouth: Cannibal's Howl
Perdition's Mouth keeps reprinting and releasing new material at times when I can't afford it, but it looks really good. Cannibal's Howl is a new expansion for this strategic dungeon crawl that uses an interesting rondel mechanic and requires a lot of clever planning. You can also pledge during this campaign to pick up pretty much everything else for the game, if you need to catch up. If you love fantasy dungeon crawls but want something that feels different, then I think Perdition's Mouth will have a lot to offer for you. |
AuthorMy name is Liz Davidson, and I play solo board games. A lot of solo board games... Archives
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