Category: Game Review

I played this game with Amber while we were on break!

Most Frustrating Aspect?

I will say only this: The NPCs are way better and harder than they were before. But Amber ended up winning, so I was happy Rosalina LOST.

Favorite Moment or Aspect?

As a fan of the Mario Party Games, it was nice to “come back” to a game that was familiar in the basis of its mechanics, but exciting to see what is new as well. I enjoyed being able to know what I was doing, but also be pleasantly surprised by new features. I think my favorite new feature is the graphics and how Nintendo tries to keep it fresh, but also spice it up a bit. For instance, in the first few games, Bowser was pretty awful and difficult to deal with. Now he rarely shows up for the whole game, and his “Negative Prizes” are never that bad.

Anything I wanted to do that I couldn’t?

In the game, it seemed like it was easy for everyone else to get a lot of coins, and it didn’t feel like it was just luck. (I’m not good with money anyways..)

Magic want to set, control, or change anything?

Now I don’t know if this is controversial, but I believe the price of the game overall is the first step of playing it. (Obviously) but I played this game with Amber, who got it for christmas, and I really wanted the game, but I don’t have a spare $60 to drop on a game, especially now that I know someone with the game.

Improved in the next version?

I want more chaos, and I really want the game to feel super engaging in terms of fighting over things. Yes, we can fight the NPCs, but I want the game to be just as questionable of who really won as it was in the older games.

Games Message?

It’s like monopoly, but less capitalism…maybe..

Describe the game in three words:

Party, Stars, Minigames.

What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?

While there are a lot of moving parts to getting the game started and getting into the meat of the gameplay, besides considering that, I think the most frustrating thing about the playtest was trying to understand the consistency between players. It felt like “two steps forward, one step back” kind of deal, as when I would purchase a vehicle, someone else would blow it up (thanks Collin >:P) I think that is more an inconsistency with not establishing a sense of the goals at the get go, but other than that I didn’t find any serious frustrations.

• What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? 
• I enjoyed that the concept really dives deep into the idea of the complications behind fleeing a country. It seems straight forward on paper, and then when you sit down and play you start to realize “shoot, I can’t do this because ___ stopped me!” Which really made me stop and think about what I was doing while playing.
• Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I want to do a playthrough of this game where everyone is genuine and serious about the playthrough, focusing on “finishing” the game. I think if we gathered a bunch of people to play and made a podcast while playing it, that would be fun!
• If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Set the goals from the beginning and write them down so we all know what is going on. That way there isn’t any overlap like I mentioned.
• What should be improved with the next version? I want more ways to attack others, and I think a really neat feature would be to have spontaneous events, like if you roll a die, bombs can be dropped, or supply crates!
• What was the game’s message?: ESCAPE! Basically, haha! This game’s message was about awareness of what power people can give depending on what role they play. In the real-world execution of this, the concept of power is truly a terrifying ability, especially in a war-torn country.
• Describe the game in 3 words: ESCAPE, TEXTURES (WowWee), and BOMBS!

I would like to also say that this is my second playtest of this game. I played it maybe a year ago, and the tiles were cardboard, and a lot of the features in the game were not yet implemented. I would say looking back in comparison, I had a lot of fun being able to do more! I hope I can play it again!

• What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? I think the most frustrating aspect of this game was the learning curve to understand what exactly my character’s goals were and the best ways to go about that. Maybe this could be reduced by providing some examples of how the player could go about achieving those goals? This also could have just been as a result of being very tired so it took me longer to grasp the concept 
• What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I really enjoyed the pieces and how the gameboard fit together nicely. The pieces had a satisfying texture and I think simplistically and effectively communicated what they represented. 
• Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I think that I would have enjoyed having an actual designated “graveyard” to display the pieces that I had blown up and taken out of the game. 
• If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? I would add more diagrams, pictures, and examples to make learning it easier for first time players, especially those who just need to rely on the rules. Just really dumbing it out down more than anything. 
• What should be improved with the next version? Like i said before, diagrams and pictures would definitely be helpful and also think that the “goals and objectives” section for each of the different roles should be in the order of the turn order, because it is off by like one and I kept trying to refer to that as the turn order. 
• What was the game’s message? We determined that the game’s message was partially about rebuilding society, but there were also other roles and factors at play such as war and the rebels who were opposing some of the other players. It presented a complex view of war and society in my opinion. 
• Describe the game in 3 words. Strategic, competitive, challenging 

What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?

When you couldn’t remember some thing as soon as it got to your turn

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?

The challenging questions

Was there anything that you wanted to do but couldn’t?

Answer all the questions by myself….lol

If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?

Add more questions to the cards

What should be improved with the next version?

More phrase cards

What was the game’s message?

It is educational in terms of global culture and geography.

Describe the game in three words.

Educational, culture, and humbling.

I loved loved loved this game. I had too much fun engaging with the characters and the game as a whole.
The thought put into props, storyline, twists and turns is very good and helps bring the story to life.
Also, the level of interactivity that is carved out by the game is really interesting. Forcing players to talk and work together.
I would love for the game to see more versions and more intricate stories.

• What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Just learning all of the specifics with the rules. The concept wasn’t hard to grasp but there were a lot of little exceptions in the rules that made it difficult to not have to constantly refer to. The game was really well put together though. 
• What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I loved the 3D printed pieces and tiles. The game looked and felt really put together. 
• Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I kind of wanted the first connecting settlement to the original settlement to allow me to get a new pawn because it just made more sense to me that way. I also wanted the mountains to be worth trying to conquer, but they were just too hard to roll for. 
• If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? I think just simplifying it to make the game more easy to understand off the bat. I think that placemats/reference cards could help with that. 
• What should be improved with the next version? I think more cards could potentially be added, but mostly just simplification of some of the rules to make it easier for first time players to understand. 
• What was the game’s message? The game was about colonization vs native peoples. I feel like it was a commentary on colonizers taking over natural land and indigenous settlements and the game could have leaned into that even more. 

Describe the game in 3 words. Strategic, thoughtful, interesting

Full Spectrum Warrior: As a person who doesn’t play shooter games, I think for its time, FSW is a really interesting and involved way to resolve a need for team cooperation and basic army tasks, such as how they move from different spaces and focus on the whole teams lives, rather than the comparison of (at least what I know) about games like Call of Duty, where it’s every man for himself. Giving a whole review on graphics and implications seems a bit unfair due to the judgment of time and what we have in terms of quality today. However, for 2004, the graphics and mechanics are top tier. I hope those who were made to play it enjoyed the experience, even though a realistic game about war isn’t exactly what I would consider fun.

SIMULATION GAMES: (Personal)

Stardew Valley: Though many wouldn’t first consider Stardew Valley to be a simulation game, this game has a super special place in my literal SOUL. I can NOT recommend this game enough for anyone, because it just brings so much comfort and joy in a way games like Animal Crossing and Sims could otherwise not. To explain the game briefly, players begin the game as a worker in a corporate office job, they are feeling really dissatisfied with life and want to experience something more. SO (skipping a lot of details) players inherit their grandfather’s farm and must begin bringing life back to what the farm once was. This game goes on luck, income, spending, and other factors like farming, fishing, mining, and combat. It is a really sweet game, and a lot of hardcore fans will go into depth on how to play and what to do, but really the game just takes a little googling, and some relaxing!

Surgeon Simulator: I think for many of us, this was our first experience with a straightforward “Simulation Game” as many Youtubers at the time tried the game out, long before many of us could play it. The game wasn’t so much focused on being a “perfect surgeon” but more a humorous view on how poorly things can go so quickly.

overconsumption

1. the most frustrating part of this game was moving. a lot of the cards were for moving backwards so it was hard to move forward.
2. i loved the dialogue that was spurred from the reflecting parts of the cards.
3. i wanted to be able to move more, we ended up with a lot of move backwards cards so we didn’t end up really moving off of start.
4. i feel like the game would work better if you would start in the middle of the board. this would make it more like seeing your real impact and you would just go through all the cards.
5. i feel the board need more stuff maybe colors more specific branding.
6. the purpose was for people to speak and think critically about how people use things in the world and how it can affect our consumption.
7. simple, informative, thoughtful

keep talking and nobody explodes

this game is very fun simulation of defusing a bomb. it works a lot with blind teamwork. one person ha the manual and one person has the bomb. they can not see each others objects forcing them to describe and decipher colors symbols and actions through nothing but speech.

First, I want to say this is a clever and thought-out game. Amber is always very thorough with game rules and mechanics, and tying her abilities into something she is passionate about, like sustainability.

1.) What was most the frustrating moment or aspect?

I kept trying to guess what the deceased and the family wanted incorrectly in terms of burial type and I lost all my hearts mid-game. I did still end up winning the game somehow, but feeling like you have no chance to win is always not a great feeling.

2.) What was your favorite moment or aspect?

I loved the similarities in the game tiles being like Takenoko with the hexagonal tiles, and my favorite aspect was having to try and match with how the deceased and family wanted to be buried. Having a luck factor, along with trying to determine needs based on the few words stated on the cards was very enjoyable.

3.) Was there anything you wanted to do but couldn’t?

In terms of gameplay, I wouldn’t say there was anything in particular, but for organization, I wish there was a way to place the deceased cards into the tiles without having to put them in big piles as only a certain amount can fit in each plot.

4.) If you had a magic wand to wave, and could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?

After the gameplay, we discussed that it would be interesting to have another card pile that included ways people have died, that way it changed the desires of the deceased a bit, like if they passed in a fire, they likely wouldn’t want to be cremated.

5.) What should be improved for the next version?

I’ve always been a big fan of Amber’s art so I’m excited to see what style she decides to take the game. And as I said above, adding new cards like we discussed would be cool!

6.) What is the games message?

“Green Disposition”

7.) Describe the game in three words

Sustainability, Macabre, Desires

Thank you Amber for letting me playtest your game! I’m excited to see where it goes!

1. the most frustrating aspect of this game was not having a lot of information to go off of to categorize people because in todays age it is normal to try and not judge people by how they look by having so little info forces us to make the decisions that society tells us we shouldn’t make.
2. my favorite moments were the debating between players, hearing the reasons that people put i quote with a person was very entertaining at times, especially when its with the people we know that are in the game.
3. no it wisent missing anything that i wanted to do.
4. i wouldn’t add or remove anything to be honest. i feel like it was a fully finished game.
5. a better way for people to know if they have gotten the correct pairings so sara doesn’t have to sit and be the game master.
6. empathy, it was illustrating how easy it is to categorize people and make assumptions but it shows us how easy it can be to miss categorize someone based on age gender and looks.
7. empathy, intriguing, simple.

Ambers game

1. not knowing if the people you are choosing a method of being put to rest that they want but that is the whole point of the game it is supposed to be a challenge to make these decisions.
2. having diverse amount of ways to be put to rest and finding out you can be composted.
3. no, i feel everything was well balanced.
4. nothing
5. i feel like it was perfect.
6. the games message was to inform people about death and processes you can take and to also show how sometimes their is disconnect between loved ones and the deceased.