Everyone loves Mario Kart. Daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, even grandmas. Everyone. It’s arguably the most beloved Nintendo property, and it’s certainly the most popular racing video game with cumulative sales of 152 million dollars. I don’t want to pay $80 for the shiny new version either, but that doesn’t change the fact that this sucker…
“Only the dead have seen the end of war.” It’s the early 90s. With utmost care, I slowly creep around the rotting shed that dominates the far side of the yard. The tiny fuzz on the back of my neck bristles. I approach the corner of the structure and press myself against the wall. The…
I’m not much of a gambler, but Blackjack has always been the game I’ve cottoned to. The ratio of skill and strategy to luck feels right, it’s a dramatic game with explosive reveals, and it offers a relatively low house advantage. Flip 7 holds many of these same qualities, minus the house consideration of course…
Chu Han is unusual in that it’s a card shedding/ladder climbing game for exactly two players. This is a format best defined by multi-player stalwarts such as Tichu, Haggis, and a recent favorite of mine, SCOUT. But Chu Han is also unusual in that it combines trick-taking with its card shedding. And then it’s even…
Last time I examined Fives and Duos, the first two titles in CMYK’s new Magenta line of card games. This time we’re looking at Figment and Fruit Fight, once again two previously published releases that have been remastered and brought into visual alignment with the rest of this series. The decision on which games to…
The Magenta line feels like the right thing at the right time. One of the big recent trends in tabletop gaming has been the popularization of small footprint card games. The Crew really shook the earth and sparked a wave of creative trick-takers whose impact spilled over into other similar games of historically traditional style.…
“And deep down in your heart, you know we never should’ve left the island.” – John Locke I have a difficult time recalling 2012. With particles floating through the air and crumbling upon close inspection, it all feels like an out of focus dream. What I do remember is that this was one of the…
Ba-dum, ba-ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-ba-dum, ba-duuuuummmmm, CRASH! Ba-ba-dum, too-toooooo-toooom! CRASH! Ba-dum, ba-ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-ba-dum… Listen up all you sly cats, studious mice, and surly humans. Shuffle and Swing is the third ditty in the Bitewing Games jazz trio, and it’s a daggum different rodent than its two companions. Bebop designer Robert Hovakimyan returns, although he’s shed…
Cthulhu: Death May Die is a fascinating story. It originated as a combined effort between Eric Lang and Rob Daviau under the auspices of CMON Games. Elements are clearly carried forward from Lang’s previous effort, The Others. That game was a one versus many affair that didn’t quite deliver despite several inspired details. The Others…
If I told you that Robert Hovakimyan was a pseudonym for Reiner Knizia, you’d believe me. At least that would be the case after playing Bebop, Bitewing Games’ old-school Euro-design that swims in the same sea as Babylonia and Samurai. That’s not the case, however, and Hovakimyan deserves a great deal of credit for fashioning…
Player Elimination 