Category: Game Reviews

1. Was it fun?
   • I thought the game was fun, but I didn’t like it as much as the other games I  played. I think I am starting to gravitate slowly to games that favor playing with cards. 
2. What were the player interactions?
   • The player interactions were between being inside or outside of Tokyo which all depended on how the attacks were placed on people and how their own strategies affected their game.
3. How long did it take to learn?
   • It took us 5 minutes total, simply because we had Ames playing who knew what to do. 
4. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
   • The most frustrating moment of the game was playing the game in terms of health as my strategy to win, but I was beaten to the punch, losing by energy points.
5. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
   • My favorite moment was thinking I could win simply by keeping my health up while depleting others’. Also, not a big fan of the rules inside of Tokyo, felt like I never made it there.
6. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
   • One thing that I wanted to do was take away people’s energy points or steal energy points.
7. 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 make a smaller deck of cards and make one card where people could wipe out their other opponents’ energy points or an if then statement card to help players who are playing the health strat gain more energy points.
8. Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
   • I would not play this game again simply because it wasn’t as exciting as I had hoped for. The game wasn’t rage baiting me, so it was a bust lol. Yeah, I really like a game that starts arguments, and I just didn’t get that from this game. I want a game to start WWIII. 
9. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
   • The beginning of the game, being the setup of monsters having a central conflict, starts the game. The players are discovering the theme and mechanics being put into this world. The introduction of the attack card is where the real game begins. Then the bulk of the game is the most engaging because the stakes grow as you’re forced to choose between collecting coins and building, or collecting coins to destroy others while collecting energy cubes and trying not to die. Lastly, there is the dramatic ending as monsters race to 20 points without dying. 
10. What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
    • More coercion and manipulation than collaboration in the sense that you can convince someone to go into Tokyo, then absolutely obliterate them with attacks. In the competitive aspect, it truly is every man for themselves because how can you roll and get lucky without rolling something good but not knowing it, then getting crushed because on your final roll, you get screwed.
11. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics stand out?
    • The metaphor/narrative is to keep the monsters in check and get them to take each other down, and be the sole monster to take over Tokyo. The genius mechanic of this game was the dice roll limit being 3, because it gives the player more options and allows them to choose the best play for them.

1. Was it fun?
   • I actually really enjoyed this game, though it was intimidating at first as far as directions go. I would go out and get this game myself to play simply because I like the strategy each character card gets.
2. What were the player interactions?
   • The player interactions were between different warlords and any other player, as well as being the assassin and killing people you know are in the game. 
3. How long did it take to learn?
   • Overall, I believe it took us 20 minutes total, including all the questions we had to ask ChatGPT to break down, because sometimes we were confused by the rule book and this just broke it down into understandable chunks: link to find out all what we asked ChatGPT
4. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
   • The most frustrating moment of the game was honestly figuring out how to play, but once we got in the swing of it went by. Other than arguing on the steps for the game. We made it a big deal by playing the steps in order.
5. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
   • My favorite moment was watching the other players not realize what good cards were in the pile and being the second or third to play, because then I could gauge what other players had as cards and simply by the pattern of what they normally chose.
6. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
   • One thing that I wanted to do was give more option to chose the king card because it was being hogged by the same people, so a little more rotation.
7. 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 make it clear that the order of a player’s action be very specific because we all got too excited and we may have played illegally.
8. Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
   • I would definitely play this game again I really enjoyed the not know and plotting as well as the process of elimination of the game. This is very engaging and made me feel smart.
9. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
   • The beginning of the game is the setup of the board. Players learn the rotation of character cards and how each card affects the other players, as well as building their empire. Then the second stage is the struggle of deducing who has what card and how you can use your player to your advantage by just collecting coins to purchase or destroy others. Lastly, the push for victory can easily be described as what strategy are you gonna use to win, is it taking down others, or does it involve?
10. What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
    • This game is most definitely on the competitive side, being that there is a little bit of teamwork in taking other people down, but also it can quickly change to every man for themselves when the character cards get changed and then it gets ugly.
11. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics stand out?
    • The game’s metaphor/narrative is building up your kingdom to the best ability using your power to complete the building of your kingdom. The biggest standout mechanic, which I think should be emphasised and could make or break a player, is the order in which the player completes their turn. They should’ve emphasised that you do basic actions FIRST before character actions.

Camel Back is a chance-based betting game in which players accumulate money by racing camels around a track by rolling dice that are color coordinated to the respective camels.

Was it fun? Yes, it was a chill fun

What were the player interactions? Not too much collaboration but we still interacted in a sense of gauging what other players would do to anticipate the betting

How long did it take to learn? Mmm 15-20 mins maybe

What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? It really wasn’t too frustrating

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? Not having control of the camels was actually a very interesting aspect of the game – just watching them do their thing by chance was fun and then betting with no actual stakes, honestly it felt a lot like Clue but obviously a few different mechanics which made it move easier

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? Not that I can think of no it just sorta worked out

If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Maybe make the game setup a little easier, it was tricky figuring out where everything went, there were too many different cards that some didn’t seem to matter too much, making them mean more or taking them out completely would be best

Is this a game you would play again? Yes, it was cute and easy and fun

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. The setup was definitely one and giving the camels their first moves, then every leg of the race was part of act 2 and act 3 began when people started betting on the total winner of the race when the camels got closer to the finish line

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? Not really collaborative except for the fact you just have to pay attention to what everyone else is doing, competitive because we are all trying to get as much money as we can by ourselves, there weren’t any teams or anything

What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The camel metaphor was very fun – having so many different ways to earn money was very well thought out especially the betting cards and having several legs of the race available

Was it fun?

Yes, I enjoyed playing Splendor. 

What were the player interactions?

The player interactions were collecting gems and cards to react to a point goal.

How long did it take to learn?
It did not take very long to learn, we played a game similar to the rules of building/collecting and “buying” so it made it easier to get the hang of. 

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

The most frustrating part was if you and another player were looking to collect the same card/gems and they got to it first or the gems ran out.

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

My favorite aspect was “buying/trading” gem tokens/ cards for other, better cards. I liked thinking ahead to my next move(s) and strategically collecting cards/ gems.

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

I wanted to take three of the same gem, but we could only take two. I understand that it wouldn’t be as interesting if there wasn’t this restriction, so I didn’t get too mad about this. 

If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything

from the experience, what would it be?

I wouldn’t change or add anything, I thought this game was created well and had necessary rules for the game to be enjoyable. 

Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why

Yes, because I would want to try different techniques and see how hard it would be to collect other cards/gems that I didn’t the first time.

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.

The first act is the set up of the game with the cards and gem tokens, and all the players starting with nothing. The second act is when players start collecting their desired gems and setting goals to collect specific cards for points, and in this process they begin to work towards 15 points. Lastly, the third act is when players close in on 15 points, and concludes when a player reaches the goal, and everyone tallies their card points to determine the winner.

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?

There is no collaboration between players, the focus is all on competition. Players compete by racing to collect specific cards before their opponents can claim them, and racing to reach 15 points first to win the game

What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?

The game’s metaphor is building wealth through gem trading and development over time. A key mechanic that stood out is the collection and use of gem tokens. Unlike the cards, which can only be claimed once, the gem tokens remain reusable throughout the game. This mechanic highlights the ongoing flow of resources that players could continually use to increase their wealth.

From the little that I played, Dominion looked to be a promising game with lots of ramp-up time and skill expression. There were so many ways to play the game and therefore many options different strategies to come out on top.

Dominion has a somewhat complex learning curve, due to the way that cards are drawn and played. It took our group about 10 minutes to learn, but that was because we had an experienced player teaching us the rules.

The most frustrating aspect of the game was learning the draw, reshuffle, and discard procedure. On paper it seems simple, but it is complex to an inexperienced player. I have not played a card game where your discarded cards become the cause of your actions next turn.

My favorite moment, from the little I played, was looking over the possible actions I can take. Dominion leaves a lot in the players hand, and gives them so many tools to work with. I enjoy games with lots of expression in them.

I found myself able to do anything. I am unable to describe anything I couldn’t do.

I did not play enough of the game to find flaws. I will say that the game is very overwhelming initially, making it hard to come up with a strategy. I would add more pacing to the game, either by gating certain cards or encouraging simpler strategies to build off of.

I would like to play Dominion again. I’d like to experience the game in full to see how complex the game gets at the end.

The first act would probably be the longest. The start of the game and subsequent ramp up has players understanding the game and developing their initial strategy, up until players feel confident enough to buy land or attack others. The second act would stat when players focus more laterally than vertically, either by attacking, defending, or working towards buying the most estates or amassing the most wealth. The second act flows smoothly until the final act, where new cards begin to run thin.

There are many ways to compete with opponents in Dominion, but there’s one single factor that determines victory. Many players will adopt different strategies like collecting wealth, attacking others, or playing multiple actions to maximize turns. In the end, the player with the most land cards will win the game.

I believe that the general metaphor of Dominion is empire building. You act as a king who must do whatever necessary to build their dominion. I believe that the vastness of avenues to build your kingdom is what makes Dominion stand out. Like in real life, kingdoms needed to build wealth, gain territory, and secure themselves against adversaries.

Madison Hurst

Was it fun? – I thought the game was very fun because I enjoyed the tactics of the game. It made me think steps ahead and how my opponent’s moves could help me. For instance, I thought it was fun when I was able to complete an action or be extremely close to winning the game.

What were the player interactions?- The player interactions were competitive because we couldn’t see each other’s cards. We were trying to get the panda to eat the bamboo that the other player just placed to prevent them from getting ahead. Some of the interactions were beneficial because players were able to add bamboo to their tiles that weren’t watered if another player added a water tile or water stick. The majority of the game was competitive, but at times it was collaborative without the players realizing. 

How long did it take to learn?- At first, it was super tricky to learn because the directions were lengthy, but we watched a five minute overview of the game on YouTube, and I fully understood the game after that. 

What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?- The most frustrating moment of the game was not being able to move the panda where you wanted, and making it go only forward, not diagonally. I struggled to succeed with the panda action card since at points of the game it was across the entire board.

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?- My favorite moment was being able to see how the plan I made three to four turns back worked out in my favor. For instance, I planned to use the gardener for the green bamboo, which would garden any tile adjacent to it. This helped me get my 6th card, and I knew that if I grabbed the two tile action cards, then the next round I would be able to use them to win. 

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?- Something I wanted to do but couldn’t was being able to add more bamboo on top of a tile. At times, it felt difficult to add, but I may have been missing something or didn’t fully grasp that instruction. 

If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything

From the experience, what would it be?- If I could count an action card being successful, I would. I thought it was a freebie when you completed an action, but when you placed it down in your pile, it didn’t count a 1 of the action turns. 

Is this a game you would play again? Yes, because I thought the game was pretty light and fun. It still had a competitive aspect to it, but I really enjoyed the designs and the uniqueness of the game. I think it challenged me to think about my turns and future turns, but didn’t confuse me or make “my brain” hurt. 

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.- In Act 1 this is when players are reading instructions and understanding what the game’s purpose is. Tiles are starting to be placed, and we are figuring out different ways to win. In Act 2, everyone now understands the game, and this is when I was completing actions and gathering points. I was now being more strategic with my moves and what I wanted to turn in the future turns. I started to bet on what other players were doing and working off of them. This is when everyone’s wheels were spinning and figuring out how to get a leg up. In act 3, the game slowed down a bit, and I was close to winning. I started to think how I can ensure other opponents don’t get even with me when regarding completed action cards. In this act, it was the final moves to secure the win. 

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? – The majority of this game was competitive, while having some aspects of collaborative play without us knowing so. The competitive side was when players were using the panda to eat our tiles, bamboo, or using the dice to possibly get a leg up. The collaborative side was when a player would add a tile to the board, which set you up for your next turn. This happened a lot when Meredith would play a tile that would help accomplish a task. 

What is the game’s metaphor, and which of the game’s mechanics stand out? – The theme of this game was between nature (the panda) and the gardener/players growing bamboo. The game was all about agriculture and watering systems while completing tasks to win. Some of the game mechanics were tile laying, getting action cards done, weather dice, and preventing the panda from eating your bamboo crops. The tile laying allowed you to grow various bamboo types, which helps you successfully complete the task. The weather dice mechanic can give an extra turn or make your life easier for that round. Lastly, the panda mechanics made it difficult to grow bamboo and forced you to still be aware of your crops throughout the game. 

Was it fun?

Yes, I really enjoyed playing the game, and the visuals were also enjoyable.

What were the player interactions?

The player interactions were rotating the sun part around, placing trees, taking turns/ passing the player token around.

How long did it take to learn?

It literally took us a whole hour to learn how to play. We could NOT understand the written instructions so after 45 excruciating minutes we looked up a video. 

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

The instructions was the most frustrating part of the game, besides that it was very enjoyable.

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

My favorite part of the game was the whole concept and how you had to grow your tree with light points. I thought it was very cute and creative. 

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

I wanted to buy and grow my trees all in one turn but you had to do those actions in completely different turns, and we have a limited amount of turns, so you have to play strategically.  

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 change the instructions. They were very hard to comprehend, and I don’t know if it was very wordy or disorganized, but we had a hard time. I would also add a key with all the parts labeled.

Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why

Yes, because I ultimately enjoyed the experience and I want to try different strategies to get the most points.

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.

The first act was the set up where we all picked our tree type and we set up our first trees on the board, and established who went first (the youngest player). Then the second act was us starting to plant trees, rotating the sun around the board, and starting to gather points by chopping trees. Lastly the third act is when the sun goes around the board for the third time and players add up all their points from the chopped trees, and their remaining light points. 

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?

There wasn’t much collaboration, but it also didn’t feel like strong competition, since there are no direct interactions between players that affect each other’s status, but the only aspects of competitiveness were blocking trees so others can’t score points and the point system as a whole because the one with most points wins. 

What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics stand out?

The game’s metaphor is the natural process of photosynthesis, represented through the growth and life cycles of different types of trees. The mechanics that stood out most were the strategic placement of trees on the board, the personalized player boards used to purchase trees and track light points, and the rotating sun, which controlled the pace and flow of the game.

1. Was it fun?
   • I actually really enjoyed the game. I felt like it kept me on my toes and I was anxiously waiting till I could take my next turn.
2. What were the player interactions?
   • The player interactions mainly consisted of whether or not someone had all the resources to choose the card you had been saving up for or reserving a spot for. This main interaction made the game 10x more interesting.
3. How long did it take to learn?
   • The game didn’t take more than 5 minutes to learn even though we had a veteran play with us so we got the run down nice and quick.
4. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
   • The most frustrating part was waiting for the other players to take their turn because I had already strategiezd mine.
5. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
   • My favorite part of the game was the third act because we were so into it and everyone was so competitive about taking their turn to get their next set of gems or purchase something. 
6. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
   • I wish that the cards in the first level didn’t have an empty no number point value to them because I feel like that put me at a disadvantage having more of those numberless cards as opposed to ones with numbers.
7. 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 put numbers on the begining set of cards which could up the antique but could potentially ruin the pacing.
8. Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
   • I would play this game simply because of the way the rapid competition it was able to build within the first 2 minutes. It was frustrating to see other players cards but that made it all the more motivating.
9. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
   • The first act within this game starts with people collecting either 3 different gems or 2 of the same. It’s all about how you set yourself up that first round that could put you in a better or worse position. Then this allows you to purchase outside gem cards to help you get more expensive purchases since they don’t count against your chip limit. Then in the second act we see more of the engine-building strategies of permanent gem cards to purchase second and third tier tokens which is where the game intensifies and people start strategising what cards are the most possible to achieve to get me closer to my goal. The third and final act usually occurs when  players are reaching around 10-12 points and buying from the third tier but the game doesn’t end when a player reaches 15 or more victory points, everyone has to complete the same amount of rounds giving other players a last chance to make bigger decisions. 
10. What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
    • This game is most definitely on the competitive side being that every player can asses another opponents cards while strategiesing what they may be saving up for or already purchasing which is an aspect I thoroughly enjoyed.
11. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?
    • The metaphor of the game is simply about collecting coins inevitably reaching the idea of imbalenced wealth. The mechanic that stood out the most was the hand limit of chips being 10 because that limited what you and other players could pick up because some of the 2nd and 3rd tiered items you would want to try and achieve in the beginning with no card tokens would be hard if you needed 7 blue gem and 3 red but youre missing 1 blue gem and you have 1 green gems so you can’t just pick up that last blue token in the pile.

1. Was it fun?
   • The game was entertaining; however, it had several drawbacks that made it less interesting and fell short of its full potential. Overall, this game makes me feel weird. If I play this more, I might enjoy it.
2. What were the player interactions?
   • The player interactions involved handing out curses and attack cards, which was the main interaction.
3. How long did it take to learn?
   • It took us at least 20 minutes to learn. It was overwhelming at first, but not at all what I was expecting to play.
4. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
   • The most frustrating aspect of the game was that I couldn’t use the throne room card as a stackable one from the cards I had already placed, which was annoying because I ran out of action cards in my hand. See the image for a better explanation.
5. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
   • The best part of the game was when I won. I wish there were more action and collaboration within the game, so there wasn’t any big moment in the game that was my favorite.
6. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
   • As mentioned before in the inserted image, I wanted to replay 2 actions from the throne room card that I couldn’t because I no longer had any actions left to play.
7. If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
   • If I could wave a magic wand and could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, I would increase the stakes in the sense that instead of a curse, make there be an orge you have to defeat of some sort that if you don’t have a specific card(s) to defeat it you lose -4 coins. 
8. Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
   • I would play this game again just to see if we could get into the meat of the game faster and more into the strategy. I think deeper in the game faster with better pacing into the second act would make this more interesting. 
9. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
   •  The first act of Dominion falls under the fixed deck and getting set up with money or copper and Estates. Player go about the begging of the game by purchasing more money, actions, or estates hence the “Action, Buy, Cleanup” to build their decks. The process after the discard then repeats itself. The second act struggle is where the most of the game is played by choosing strategy, and accumulating cards to optimize you turn until one of the decks lost their cards. When the Privince pile runs low that when we approach the third act which is where players must acciqure as many Estates as possible for the most points. A race to the end for the most victory points while also avoiding curses. The person with the most estate or points wins.
10. What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
    • Not many collaborative efforts in this game considering its you versus everyone else trying to get the most points as you can within one turn.
11. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?
    • The game’s metaphor symbolizes the struggle and gain for full control and sovereignty. The most effective or stand out mechanic was the constant shuffling of the deck which kept the game interesting. You never knew if you was gonna get the card you needed on a specific turn and you just hoped to have enough of the right cards to do something.