Skull

Skull (or Skull & Roses, as it is also known as) is the perfect bluffing game for parties, drinking, travel and just casual late night chats. We have mentioned it briefly before when this blog was first set up, and it is still a firm favourite in the household. I have played this game abroad, on trains, in restaurants and over dinner. It's portable, easy to teach and pick up and fast to play. I have even taught it to people using playing cards, just 3 hearts and a spade per player. 

In this 3+ player game, each player starts by playing a card face-down, then each player in turn adds one more card to their stack, unless they feel cocky enough to challenge. The challenge consists of the player saying how many roses they think they can reveal from what has been laid down on the table without revealing a skull. Other players can outbid them, aiming to reveal even more roses. The highest bidder must then turn over the coasters starting with their own stack first. If they reveal only roses they win, if they reveal a skull they lose, sacrificing one of their cards at random and putting it out of play. Two successful challenges will win you the game, or if you are the last player left with cards. 

The base set comes with six sets of coasters but it is possible to play with more if you buy extra sets. If you have played Liars Dice aka Perudo, then you will already be familiar with the set up, as both games tread similar territory. I highly recommend this, I truly believe it is a must-have for all households.

Anna

Dark Is The Night

Whilst scrolling through Instagram I came across Dark Is The Night, a game currently on Kickstarter (with just over two days to go!) and it sounded like a fun two player game to try out. I am always on the prowl for filler games that stimulate and entertain, and lately I've developed an appetite for hidden movement and deduction games - I blame Captain Sonar and Noir for that. So I got semi-creative, fashioned up a make-shift board and grabbed some miniatures to act as player pieces with some crudely drawn tokens to see how this game plays. 

The hunter is camping out, keeping her wits about her, while a cunning monster lurks in the darkness, circling its prey. This hunter is no sitting duck, she is equipped with two arrows, a tasty morsel of meat and a trap. Like all good hunters, she came prepared. She knows which direction the monster starts in and can then attempt to deduce where the beast actually is. She could fire an arrow into the dark hoping that it will strike the monster, she could leave a trap that deters the monster and will alert her if it gets too close, or she could place a piece of meat somewhere to tempt the hungry monster out of the shadows.

Players act as either the hunter or the monster, taking it in turns to move one space on the board then use an action. The hunter is represented on the board by a figure sculpted by Chad Hoverter, who worked on Mice & Mystics, and the monster has a dial it uses to track its movement in secret. Playing as the hunter, you are constantly trying to work out where that tricksy monster is with the use of your tokens and a bit of logic. The monster has nothing to lure the hunter towards them but it has the Feint token which allows it to secretly move 0-2 spaces once a game.Then it could end up right in your path, ready for dinner! After the hunter uses the last token you have five turns left before the finale. The monster could eat the hunter, the hunter could kill the monster or maybe no one kills anyone - and they all go hungry tonight!

We played loads of games in a row, then after dinner and miniature painting we squeezed a few more games in. It is an enjoyable and quick game, that is easy to set up and simple to learn. The game is produced by Ape Games, and designed by three university students studying game design. Go and check this game out here if you enjoy fast deduction games and trying to stalk your opponent.

Marisa xx       

Panic Lab; Living up to it's name!

Sometimes I like to play lovely calm games like Tokaido and chill out, but sometimes I like to be toppled over and play games that get me all panicky and excited. Panic Lab definitely falls into the latter category. At the laboratory there has been an incident and all the amoebas have escaped, you must find them quickly before the other scientists (players). To do this, you shuffle the 25 square tiles and arrange them into a big circle. A randomly selected player rolls the four dice to determine which amoeba you must find first, then everyone plays simultaneously and the madness begins!

The dice represent the Shape of the amoeba, the Pattern of the amoeba, the Colour of the amoeba and the Labs. The Lab die shows which lab the amoeba escaped from and which direction it went, players start from there and have to identify the correct amoeba by touching it. If the correct one is found then that player gets a token. The winner is the first player to collect five tokens.

There are a few twists to the game, of course. These slippery little suckers can escape through air vents! If you come across a vent whilst tracking an amoeba then you must skip all squares until you reach the next vent. If you reach the third vent, you must ignore all tiles until you return to the first vent and then continue the search. That has not happened to us yet, they usually get caught after one vent or get mutated.

What is that, you ask? Mutated? Yes, that is exactly what you wanted to hear. What on earth are these scientists playing at, leaving hazardous mutation rooms open for anyone to waltz in? Amoebas can change colour, shape or pattern by passing through these squares. The delicate little amoebas will not survive four mutation rooms in a row, though, if that happens then they vanish. That does not mean the round is over, as the player who touches the last mutation room the little dude slithered through will win the token. This is when the game really kicks off and lives up to it's name of Panic, ensuing a frenzied hunt for the constantly changing amoebas against the greedy eyes of your opponents.     

For those of you with younger children or for the faint-hearted, there is the option of simplifying the game by removing the air vents and mutation rooms, making the game less frenetic. 

The amoebas are cute and colourful, even if they do put years on me. The components all fit neatly in an attractive little tin, so we tend to take it on holiday and end up playing it on the floor of the hotel room or a coffee table. Panic Lab is for 2 - 10 players, age 8+ and the gameplay can last for 10 -30 minutes depending on how many players you have. The set-up time is is short, and it is not a complicated game to learn. Throw in the bonus that it is an inexpensive game, and enjoyable too. A game of quick-thinking, good reflexes and very alert eyes!

Thanks for reading!

Marisa xx

      

Ninja Bowling by Odd Hackwelder

I always get excited when a package arrives at the door, it is going to be something I kickstarted or something shiny from Amazon. Yesterday it was Ninja Bowling by Hacko Games, and I dived straight in for some good old fashioned bowling fun - with a twist. Ninja Bowling is a dexterity card game, picture traditional bowling pins being decimated by ninja throwing stars and you have got the idea. It is easier than actual bowling for me, and there is no need to wear the musky rental shoes. 

The game was designed and published by Odd Hackwelder, the man who created Monster 55 and M80, an assortment of fun and light card games that are simple to learn but also challenging (in a good way!) if you are a little clumsy and slow to react like me. 

To begin, players set up six pins in a triangle formation, almost like they would be set up in a alley. Players then take it in turns to throw three stars at their opponents pins. When you throw the stars, your hand can not go past the front of your own pins. If a star lands on a pin, or multiple pins, then those pins are swept to the side and removed. After one round, count up the pins that were knocked out and whoever got the most gets a Spare card. If your stars managed to touch all of the pins then you get a Strike card. In the two player game, if a player gets a Spare and then wins the next round too then their Spare becomes a Strike! The winner is the player who gets three Strikes. 

The two versions I ordered were the two player version and the mini multi player version. The two player version is a normal playing card size and the mini version is for two - six players. The mini version is very similar to the normal one, with the exceptions that you are collecting your opponent's cards when you achieve a Spare or a Strike and you may target any player during your turn. 

The game is simple to pick up, easy to assemble and quite fun. It gets a bit competitive as you hurl the stars across the table at each other. It was looking good for me at one point as I had two Strikes and my swinging wrist action seemed unusually coordinated. But, alas, victory was swiped from me as I threw some stars too hard and they slid off the table. I had polished it earlier in the day, I blame my loss on that.

I imagine a ninja would go bowling this way, but would they wear the rental shoes that squeak awkwardly and unstealthily when you trip up trying to administer an under-arm bowling action?         

Thanks for reading!

Marisa xx

Dead Man's Draw

The last few days have been a frenzy of driving around, preparing for the coming month and playing as many new games as possible in order to complete the 200 different games in one month challenge. The list is getting rather extensive now, even with the occasional interruption of a few cheeky games of Imperial Settlers and the like, I believe we have played 174 different games and there are still some days left to complete it - it shall be done! Hitting Draughts, Thirsty Meeples and Marquee Models in the past few weeks was fantastic, as I have discovered so many new games through this.

In order to play 200 different games in one month, whilst maintaining work and a home has been a challenge in itself. It has been made easier, though, by great little filler games, Such as Dead Man's Draw. This piratical push your luck card game is published by Mayday Games and was originally released as a digital game by Stardock. It is all about plundering bountiful loot, without going bust and losing it all; a game about taking risks and reaping rewards. 

Players take it in turn to draw cards from the deck. You keep flipping over cards to reveal the loot, or peril, and lay them in a row by the deck if they are safe. Some cards make you immediately go bust, causing you to lose all the cards you just drew. On your turn, you can bank as many cards as you wish, providing you have not gone bust. You stop flipping cards and declare you have stopped, taking the cards you drew and keeping them face-up in front of you. How do you go bust, you ask? If you pick up a card that you have already revealed in that suit then you go bust! If you draw the Kraken card then that forces you to draw two more cards - which puts the rest of the cards you just drew at stake! Luckily, if you draw the Anchor card then that saves you a little, as it allows you to keep all the cards you just drew before it, even if you go bust afterwards. 

Much like a pirate, you are making a gamble with your treasure if you get too greedy, and you are doing dastardly deeds to try and come out on top. The Cannon card allows you to destroy an opponent's banked card, and the Sword lets you steal a card from your opponent. You may additionally use cards to combine abilities in order to source more or destroy more cards. The game ends when the deck is depleted, and whoever has the most points after totalling up their card values wins the game.

There is a simpler version and a more advanced one, but as we were on a time limit with stacks of games to play in the cafe we stuck to this version.   

Dead Man's Draw is a fun, fast-paced card game with beautiful illustrations and fine quality cards. It is simple to play, yet still involves some careful strategic thinking. In my endeavour to play as many games as I can, I have come across numerous pirate-themed card games and board games, and this game (along with Cartagena) is one of the best I have encountered so far.

Thanks for reading

Marisa xx

A Trip to Draughts

This week I ventured up to London to visit the board games cafe, Draughts, to see how many games I could rip through from opening to closing. The cafe is situated in Hackey, a short walk from Haggerston station, so locating it was fairly easy. On weekdays it opens at 5pm, so we made sure we were there early, loitering around outside - even though I had a table booked in advance, because I am silly like that.

Draughts is a really unique place, it was a very fun experience and reasonably priced at £5 each to play as many games as you can handle. The food and drink were quite affordable too for a London venue, and amid the mass rounds of pear juice and Jalapeno pretzels we got quite a few games in. At the back of the cafe there is a library of games to browse through, over 500 games of all genres under one roof like a treasure trove. The staff were friendly and keen to recommend games, then demonstrate how to play them. We started off with something light to warm up; Elk Fest. This is a simple little dexterity game where you and your opponent flick counters from either end of the table. The counters act as stepping stones for the wooden elks who balance upon them, and you must move them across to the other side without the elks falling off.

After settling in with the elks, we moved onto Machi Koro, which I have wanted to play for a while now and was happy to finally crack open the box. It is a city building and dice rolling game, and it is very addictive. You build up your city by collecting various cards through dice rolls and coin counters. Some cards give you extra benefits and hinder your opponents, I had a cheese factory stolen by my opponent! As soon as it was over I was ready to go again, but other games were calling so I relented and moved on to Imperial Settlers.   

       

Imperial Settlers is a civilisation building game, where you are playing as early settlers from major continents, collecting resources to build and trade with. The concepts and mechanics of this game were not ones I was too familiar with so I found the first round rather daunting but I soon adapted and was racking in the apples and meeples. This game is fantastic, and I ended up going home and ordering it for next day delivery.

The next game up was Agricolam as it was highly recommended by the staff at the cafe. This echoed some of the themes in Imperial Settlers, but is more of a worker placement game. You collect resources to build upon your farm and land. and take a number of actions depending on how many people live in your farm. I was so focused upon growing obscene amounts of carrots that I forgot to reproduce, so I had less people in my farm and less actions to take!

We managed to squeeze in three versions of Timeline towards the end. Timeline is an educational card game where players must use their knowledge (or guess, as I do a lot) to pinpoint when certain events occurred throughout history, and place their cards in chronological order in a row. As the hours flew by, it was so tempting to stay until closing at 11pm but the thought of missing the last train and having to wait for the night bus was too traumatic, so leaving at 10,30pm was preferable. But I must admit, on the way home we played a few games on the I-Phone...and perhaps more games upon arriving home. We have problems!  

Thanks for reading :) 

Please feel free to recommend games to me or just talk about games to me at

kookycherry@hotmail.co.uk

Marisa xx 

   

Sushi Dice

I thought I would start the morning off with a game that would awaken my senses and make me alert, Sushi Dice by Sit Down! Games is perfect for that. I picked up this game from Travelling Man at London MCM Expo in May, and it has become one of my favourite dice games. You are playing as a sushi chef, preparing delicious sushi platters in haste against your opponent. A deck of cards highlights the different sushi platters that need to be made, three cards are drawn from this deck before the game starts and are laid face up on the table. You and your opponent must try to create these dishes by rolling six dice each simultaneously and matching up the symbols on the dice to one of the cards. When the game begins you start rolling your dice like crazy to make the platters, setting aside the correct symbols and keeping on rolling the other dice until you match the dice to the card. When you have matched up the symbols you ding the service bell and take the card. That card is then replaced by a new one from the deck and play resumes!

 Sounds rather frantic? Well, the craziness is pushed even further to the extreme by the "Yuck" factor. On three of the dice in your hand there are little black skull symbols; the "Yuck" symbol. This means that your sushi dish you were slaving over went horribly wrong, one of the other chefs has tasted it and deemed it unsuitable for consumption. If you roll a "Yuck" and your opponent notices, they can say (or scream, as it often happens) "YUCK!" and that forces you to re-roll all of your precious dice. In a two player scenario, the first player to collect six cards is the winner, the victorious sushi chef from a cut-throat kitchen of critics. 

      

The star symbol on three of the dice is a wild card, it can count as any other symbol in order to help you complete a sushi platter. The star symbol is a life saver in most situations!

Sushi Dice is a fun and quick game, a great prelude to a gaming session and also quite addictive. It can be played with 2 -6 players and is suitable for ages 6+ so it is a good group game for families and friends. Even though the box says it takes 15 minutes, it could last all night, if you take the pressure of the kitchen. The frenzy of rolling your own dice to match the symbols, but also keeping a watchful eye over what your opponent rolls in case they should roll a "Yuck", is not for the faint-hearted!

The rain won't ruin my summer this year!

Every summer I have dreaded the rain coming, as it meant that I would not be able to skate outside or my pic-nic would be ruined. I was always desperate for glorious sunshine or I would become undone and sulk until the weather cleared up. But this summer I have finally found indoor activities to keep myself from despair. It is pouring down with rain today but I am not sad one little bit, as I have just joined a gym to release some energy and at home I am surrounded by fantastic games. My skates are sitting upstairs looking glum, but I will find a roller disco to give them a good roll. As for now, I have a very busy afternoon ahead of me...

I have set up a little conveyor of games to play. First up is the tile placing strategy game, Blokus, which was one of the first games I was introduced to last year that started me getting hooked. Then a spot of Famiglia, which is a deck building Mafia game I picked up at the UK Games Expo in May. after that we have M80, which is a great and tense card game I got on Kickstarter this year, I will be going into more detail on this game and others by the same games designer later next week. Last but by no means least, we have Coup on the table. This is another one of my favourite bluffing games, I hope I can claim victory in this round!

Wish me luck! :)

Marisa xx

Welcome to Tabletop Stop

Welcome to my blog; the experiences in tabletop gaming from the eyes of a rookie. Like a lot of people, the vast majority of my past experiences with board games had been the usual family games that you find lodged in corners of pubs and rental cottages. Although some were entertaining at the time, they could also be a bit tedious and I longed for something more. I rather liked the social aspect of board gaming and how we weren't staring at a screen in silence, we were interacting and thinking, sometimes working as a team and sometimes there was a bit of friendly competition.

Last year I was introduced into a whole new dimension of tabletop games that blew my mind. These games were engaging, they were fun, some were gorgeously designed - they were unlike any games I had encountered before. Now I am hooked; totally addicted to table top games and have started my own little collection too (which is growing steadily). I love the feel of the printed linen cards, the small components and counters, the custom designed dice and the attractive boards; all of these things are more precious to me than a pair of designer shoes and a handbag, which confuses my family!

In my new adventure into gaming I have noticed that there seems to be a game for everyone. Last week I found a card game about collecting and cooking up flavoursome wild mushrooms, a memory card game about identifying actor's masks in a Japanese theatre and a push-your-luck game where one of the players is essentially dared to go on a dungeon crawl. The sheer variety of games available is wonderful, from the long and strategic games to the short and frenzied games. Often, my mood dictates what kind of game I desire to play, so I am pleased to have an array to choose from.

I hope you enjoy following me on my journey into the tabletop games world. I will be posting about the games I am playing, writing about my experiences, what shops or events I am visiting and in the near future I will be talking to game creators and enthusiasts. Please tell me about your favourite games too, and tell me your recommendations, as I am always on the prowl for something to add to my collection. So far, I feel like this community is a warm and welcoming crowd, that want to get others involved and I cannot wait to wade further into this pool of dice and decks!

Thank you for following.

Marisa xx