 What is this game about? Aerion is a dice game set in Shadi Torbey's Oniverse series. In this game, you are racing against the clock to build six airships before you run out of cards to build them with. Each ship requires a blueprint, a material, and a crew member to be completed—and each of these components can be found in one of the six decks of cards that act as both your timer and your resources. At the start of your turn, you'll roll six dice and see what combinations you get to work with. Each deck requires a different combination of dice in order for a card to be acquired from it, such as two of a kind, a full house, or a straight. However, the dice aren't always with you, so you'll often have to reroll them. Sometimes, you might adjust your roll using one of your limited pixie tokens or a book card that allows extra rerolls. But much of the time you'll have to gain a reroll by discarding a resource card from your market row. And if you run out of cards entirely before all six ships are built, you lose the game! Like its siblings in the Oniverse series, Aerion comes with a number of expansions right in the box, which allows you to vary gameplay by adding different challenges and special abilities. Once you are comfortable with the base game, I recommend always playing with at least one expansion. How does it play solo? Aerion is technically a game for 1–2 players, but really, it's a solo game. Yay! Overall Thoughts I am happy to report that Aerion, like other games in the Oniverse, is quick, challenging, and a lot of fun. Although it is a dice game and much of what happens will come down to luck, there are also a lot of interesting decisions to make. Which cards can be sacrificed for a reroll? Which dice will you keep and which will you roll again in search of that winning combination? Is it time to use a pixie or a book card to try to influence that roll, or is it smarter to save it for later? Trying to plan as well as you can in the face of uncertainty is highly enjoyable, and it becomes even moreso when you add in the game's expansions. Also, this might be a weird thing to note, but because the cards are divided into a few separate decks and then stay that way the whole time, Aerion is super easy to set up and take down. While an annoying set up is not a dealbreaker for me, it is amazing how refreshing I found the ease of setup and takedown in Aerion. My concerns about Aerion are minor. The first is that it's a dice game—sometimes you will just have terrible luck. This is such a short game, however, that it's no big deal for me. The other concern I have is that Aerion's symbology can be a little frustrating. Although in most cases the symbols make sense and tell you useful information (like what types of cards are in a given deck, so you know where to hunt), a few of the cards contain too much info. So much so that I occasionally confused myself and had to think back through what combinations of cards I was actually going for. This isn't a game-crippling problem, but it is an irritant, especially during the first few plays (or if you are a little distracted while playing). Do I recommend it? Yes. Aerion is fun, engaging, is easy to learn, teach, and set up, and generally makes for a very enjoyable solo gaming break. 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.
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 Full Disclosure: I received a review copy of Nights of Fire from Mighty Boards.
What is this game about? Nights of Fire is a follow-up to Days of Ire, a game about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. While Days of Ire focuses on a week that was ultimately victorious for the Hungarians and that resulted in Soviet withdrawal from Budapest, Nights of Fire focuses on the Soviets' revenge. Not long after their ignominious departure, the Soviets returned with the full force of their army, and there was no way for the Hungarians to win in terms of military strength. This means that Nights of Fire is not about achieving victory in combat—instead, it is a battle for moral victory, in which the Soviets try to save face and suppress the Hungarians before things get too messy, while the Revolutionaries stall the Soviet forces and help civilians escape in order to humiliate their invaders on the international stage. While Days of Ire had a Pandemic-like feel to it, Nights of Fire is more of a light war game in which opposing forces vie for control of various districts in the city. Both sides use cards to control their forces and "pay for" in-game actions. How does it play solo? Nights of Fire can pit two Hungarian players against one Soviet player, or it can be played solo against an AI deck named for General Konev, who commanded the invading forces. Whenever you draw cards from the Konev deck, expect Soviet forces to mobilize and carry out brutal attacks. You'll be using your own cards for action points, which can pay for an array of in-game actions from saving civilians to disabling tanks. You'll also need to move your dwindling supply of fighters around the board and use them to best effect before they are inevitably killed. Overall Thoughts Nights of Fire is not a bad game, but I don't like it as much as Days of Ire. While DoI was not perfect, I did love the way that its historical theme fully saturated the game, right down to the images on the board and cards. Nights of Fire has more generic imagery and lacks a lot of that historical flavor, which was disappointing. That said, I like that Nights of Fire made some bold choices in terms of its victory conditions. It really does create the feeling of fighting a losing battle, desperately scraping together every resource you have to keep going for just a little bit longer. The Soviet forces are relentless, and no matter how many tanks you disable, they will only refresh during the next turn to come after you all over again. This makes Nights of Fire feel very different from other games I've played. The gameplay aspects that make Nights of Fire different, however, are not entirely good. Given that the game is about a nasty slog towards inevitable defeat (even if you win!), it can stretch a couple of turns too long. This is especially true because as your forces and resources run low, you can do less and less each turn, and find yourself doing more of the same actions repetitively just to survive. As a historical point about being stuck in a losing battle, this makes sense. But in terms of playing a game, it kills a bit of the fun. Do I recommend it? Nights of Fire isn't a bad game, especially if you love this time period or are looking for a game that feels like a hybrid between a Euro and a war game. But you're not missing an essential gaming experience if you give it a pass. 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.  Full disclosure: I received a review copy of Days of Ire from Mighty Boards.
What is this game about? Days of Ire is a board game set during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. It specifically focuses on the week when the Hungarians successfully, if temporarily, managed to push the Soviet armies out of Budapest. This is an asymmetrical game in which one side represents the Soviets—who attempt to overrun the revolutionaries and throw challenges at them in the form of event cards—and the other side represents the Hungarian revolutionaries, who attempt to hold the Soviets back and resolve event cards at various locations. If enough units are taken out, the game can end in a decisive victory for either side. But the game more frequently ends after a certain number of turns (reflecting the actual number of days this conflict historically took). If the Soviets have managed to keep enough event cards on the board, they win. If the Hungarians have managed to clean up enough event cards and clear the board, then they are the victorious side. Mechanically, Days of Ire is like a mashup between Twilight Struggle and Pandemic. To advance their ultimate goals, the Soviet side must play cards—based on real historical events—that sometimes benefit the Hungarians. Meanwhile, the fight to either put events on the board or to clear them up creates a Pandemic-like rush for the revolutionaries as they race to extinguish fires the Soviets have started. To resolve events, the Hungarians must gather cards with enough required resource symbols, which can be a challenge. Throughout the game, both sides are also battling for public support, resulting in constant tension beyond just combat. How does it play solo? Days of Ire can be played as a one-vs.-many game, where up to three players can challenge another human player who controls the Soviet forces. However, there is also a solo-specific deck that allows a single player to battle the Soviets alone. The Zhukov deck, named for a Russian general, puts cards out on the board that affect support levels and morale. It also causes events to be added to various locations on the board. Additionally, there are rules that cover the actions of the SPA, which will send militia units and especially-dangerous snipers against the revolutionaries. Overall Thoughts Days of Ire is a good game, but I admit I was hoping for it to be great. The theme is extremely compelling—the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 is a tragic and tragically understudied event, and that historical backdrop is woven into every aspect of the game. The locations on the board, illustrated with authentic photographs from the time, are actual key locations. The event cards, also featuring contemporary photographs, are actual events that I found myself looking up and learning more about. When it comes to historical games, you can't ask for much more from a theme. Gameplay wise, Days of Ire is perfectly good, but not as high-octane as I might have liked. So many of the game's mechanisms feel very familiar, without adding enough that felt new and fresh in terms of gameplay. The solo deck largely worked well, but sometimes the Soviet cards were swingy enough to cause drastic changes in board state, which was frustrating at times. During the Soviet turn, you resolve four event cards, which means things can change a lot between Revolutionary turns and there is very little you can do about it. Also, the need to constantly put out fires all around the city of Budapest created a challenge, but not as much tension as I wanted from a game about such an intense few days. Overall, Days of Ire is a good game, but I am a lot more in love with the theme than I am with the actual gameplay. Do I recommend it? If you are particularly interested in this period in history, or if you love Pandemic but want to try it with a more historical twist, then Days of Ire might be a match. But I don't consider it a must-buy. 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. |
AuthorMy name is Liz Davidson, and I play solo board games. A lot of solo board games... Archives
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