WILSON! (Hellapogos)

When you and your friends were first stranded on this island, your first thought was hey, I was in scouts, we can survive here.  Well, that fell apart when half the people ended up sick from either food poisoning or snake bites, and the fishing was terrible.  Water only happens when it rains, which either leads to a flood or a drought.  As the night draws close, you stand at the campfire, and proclaim the name of this island:
"Hellapogos"



BACKGROUND:  Heellapagos is a "co-opetition" board game for 3-12 players and designed by  Laurence Gamelin and Philippe Gamelin and published by Gigamic.  Players try to work together to get as many as 1 player off a deserted island by building a raft and gathering food and supplies.  However, be careful, as if you don't have enough food or water, someone might die.

GAMEPLAY:  The game takes place in days, starting with the Leader.  First, the Weather changes by flipping over a weather card.  Each player takes one action during their turn.  Finally, drop the Food and Water trackers by the number of players, and pass the Leader token to the next player.  Players also have a hand of cards to play at any time.



ACTIONS:
1. Gathering Wood-Advance the Wood tracker on the board by one stage, then randomly draw from the bag to gather extra wood.  Every brown ball will add 1 to the track, but if the player doesn't stop drawing before the black ball is drawn, they get a Sick card and no extra wood.
2. Collecting Water:  Advance the Water track according to the number on the Weather
3. Go Fishing:  Draw a ball from the bag.  Raise the food tracker by the number of fish on the ball.
4. Salvage:  Draw a card from the deck, located in the Ship stand.



SICK & DYING:  If at any time the Food or Water tracker would hit below 0, it stops and a vote happens.  The leader counts to 3, and each player chooses any player (including themselves) to be chosen to die.  A player can survive if chosen to be eliminated by discarding a card of the missing resource.  After the vote, only a number of players equal to the number of available
rations remain, while the others die.  If a resource is ever at 0 during collection, all players will die unless they discard to same themselves.  If a player gets a Sick card, they cannot vote, play cards, or take an action during the next round.

WINNING:  At the end of a round, players check after decreasing the Food and Water tracker to see if victory is met.  To win, there must be a number of Seats on the raft equal to players and an amount of Food and Water equal to the number of players.  Whenever the wood tracker hits 6, add a Seat to the raft, and reset to 0.  However, if the Hurricane card is flipped, the rounds end, and players must eliminate players until either victory is met or everyone is dead.

CONCLUSION:  Hellapogos is hard.  There's a certain level of strategy and planning that can be screwed up by a lack of drawing good cards or enough fish.  This is really a game about struggling to find a solution when the odds are against you.  That's fine, but the level of RNG can be frustrating when you know that you're close to finishing, and there's that brick wall in the way.  Also, this is a game about communication, so make sure to talk to your players or you could end up dead very quickly.  Heck, because of the gun and bullet cards, you can end up dead quickly regardless, depending on if the players are going for one strategy and you're going for another.  If you have ever wanted to see how hard it would be for your friends to survive a shipwreck on an island, and who would die first, play this.  If you like high levels of difficulty, play this.  If it isn't your forte, however, then just sail past this island.

To Boldly Go (Star Trek Panic)

Captain's Log: Stardate -304110.774.  We have become stranded in the past, during the time that humans used to call Thanksgiving.  We have been invited to stay for the holiday, and until we can find a way back, I don't see that we have much a choice to blend in. I personally have talked with the youngest of the family, who seems fascinated with board games, especially one titled Star Trek Panic, a game that somehow dictates Captain James Kirk's adventures in the future.



BACKGROUND:  Star Trek Panic is a board game for 1-6 players, designed by Justin De Witt and published by Fireside Games and USAopoly in 2016.  Players take the role of a member of the NCC-1701 Enterprise from The Original Series, and do the same missions that Kirk and his crew did in the series.

GAMEPLAY:  This game is based on Castle Panic, and uses the same turn order.  Players start their turn by first drawing Enterprise cards, then trade cards with each other.  The turn player plays cards to deal with any threats on the board, then when they are done, the 'monsters' or ships move, damaging the 'walls' or shields, and the ship itself.  Finally, the player draws 2 new threats before passing the turn, rolling and placing them on the board, with some threats having special effects.

DIFFERENCES:  There are a few major differences, however.  Before you trade, you draw a Mission card.  The Mission cards determine what your goal is and how many turns you have to finish. The Enterprise can also Maneuver during Play Cards phase.  Unlike Castle Panic, which is divided into color rings, the Enterprise cards are based on position.  You can move one section left or right, or "Move Forward", i.e., move all ships in front of Enterprise towards the ship.



WINNING:  To beat Castle Panic, you had to slay all the monsters.  To beat Star Trek Panic, you must complete a predetermined number of missions, but failing is easy.  Failing a mission just requires you to go to the next mission.  If the Enterprise loses 3 sections of its hull, it can't Maneuver, and losing all 6 sections destroys the ship and ends the game.

CONCLUSION:  Star Trek Panic feels like a natural evolution to Castle Panic.  The ability to move and adapt to the board makes a strong mechanic to an already great game, and help suppliment the randomness of the cards.  Obviously, there's still a chance of random element, but it doesn't punish as bad as it could.  The missions can range from easy to impossible, depending on the ship's condition.  The ability to adjust the length and the ability to use character abilities during your card play phase adds another strong element.  Really, what can I say but I suggest you go where no one has gone before, and pick up Star Trek Panic if you're a fan of the original game or the original series.

Hope You Have the Time of Your Life (Timelines)

History, the thing which makes up our past.  That which defines our generation, and generations to come.  The subject that a lot of high school students struggled in.  We know that so many people try to know their history, or be doomed to repeat it, but how many can be sure when the steam engine was exactly invented?  What about Big Ben, or the date Sputnik was shot into space?  Guess, or know, the Timeline is waiting for you.



BACKGROUND:  Timelines is a card game designed by Frédéric Henry, and published by Asmodee in 2012.  Players try to be the first to guess when various inventions were created, and when certain events happened.

GAMEPLAY:  Each player is dealt a hand of cards with various events and objects, the side with the year face-down.  A single card is placed between all players, with the date side face-up, as the start of the "timeline". Each turn, a player chooses a card in front of them, and places it somewhere in the timeline, in front of or behind any cards in the row, and then flip the card. 



WINNING:  If the date lines up appropriately, place the card in the line.  If it doesn't, they discard the card and draw a new one.  A player wins by getting rid of all the cards in their hand in a round.  In the case of multiple players going out in a round, those players are dealt another card, and keep playing until a winner is decided.

CONCLUSION:  Timelines is a game about dates and history.  This is going to put a lot of people off, and I can't say I blame them.  However, the difficulty of the game is well balanced by the simplicity of the game mechanics.  I've seen and reviewed too many games that are too difficult for players because they don't know how to balance the mechanics and the subject matter.  Timelines knows this, so for a game that can be incredibly difficult to know the answers to, it simplifies the gameplay, allowing for a smoother, more stream-lined experience.  There's quite a few editions of this game, so there's quite a bit of variety for each group.  If you enjoy history or simpler games mechanically, follow the timeline and play it for yourself

Fake Out Your Friends (Truth Be Told)

Question:  On a desert island, if it really came down to it, which friend would you eat first?  Who needs to be saved?  Another one:  Which limb would you chop off?  Truth Be Told, I don't know if I could answer either of these questions, but you can sure try.



BACKGROUND:  Truth Be Told is a party game for 3-8 players and was published by Buffalo Games.  Players attempt to guess from a clue how the player answered, either by writing or drawing.

GAMEPLAY:  Each turn, a player reads a question from the list of the card chosen.  The player reading writes their answer on the Fill in the Blank card as truthfully as possible, while every other player then writes what they think would mislead players into guessing their clue on their Fill in the Blank card.  They are all kept face-down and shuffled.  Once all players submit answers, the reader reads all the answers.



WINNING:  Players then write on their paddle what they think the answer is.  The player who read the clue gets a point for every correct vote, and each player guessing the correct answer gets a point.  Players also get 1 point for each vote their fake answer received.  The first player to 15 points wins, with any ties going to a final round.

CONCLUSION:  This is one of the more simple party games, that really only needs a rule set and scraps of paper, and a list of random questions.  I can see this as an easy ice-breaker game, or maybe if you really want to get to know your friends, but there are so many better games that do that, and are a lot more fun.  This is the game that everyone is too hot or tired to play something better.

The Final Fantasy of Theme Month (Chocobo's Crystal Hunt)

Welcome back to the final week of Theme Month: Classics with a twist.  This one will actually be posted on the 1st of November, as the last day is Halloween.  
So for the finale, I thought what better way than to review a version on what is probably the simplest and, really, most boring game I could think of.  The game in question: Old Maid, to be rivaled with War.  The game, Chocobo's Crystal Hunt.  Let's see where the hunt takes us.



BACKGROUND: Chocobo's Crystal Hunt is a card game for 3-5 players, and was designed by Yoshihiro and published by Square Enix.  Chocobo's come from the game franchise, Final Fantasy, and are a staple in the game.  Players use these creatures to find crystals, but must look out for monsters.

GAMEPLAY:  Each player starts with a Fat (white) Chocobo, 1 elemental Crystal of their type, and one random card from the deck.  Each turn, a player draws a card, and reveals either a Fat Chocobo or Yellow Chocobo to look at a card in the opponents hand.  If it's a Crystal, the player takes it.  If the Yellow Chocobo was played, the player may continue attempting to find Crystals in any players hand.  If a Chocobo is revealed, the turn ends, and the Chocobo is discarded if it was Yellow, or returns to the hand if it was Fat.



MONSTERS:  There are 2 Monster cards to trigger if revealed.  The fiery Bomb forced the turn player to place a Crystal on the bottom of the deck.  The two one-eyed Ahriman forces the player to reveal their hand to the player that was attacked.

WINNING:  A round ends once any player gathers either all 4 different Crystal Elements, or 6 Crystals.  The player is granted a Victory Token, marked with a crown.  The first player to get to two Victory Tokens wins.

CONCLUSION:  Despite its colorful box, gorgeous artwork, and attempt at something different, this is Old Maid.  That being said, it does try to do something unique and original with its good, bad, and win scenario.  As with any Final Fantasy work, the strongest point is the art.  Square Enix has always pushed the visual aspect of every Final Fantasy piece, and this is no different.  Chocobo's Crystal Hunt is a game that I can enjoy in small bursts with young people, or those who love Final Fantasy, but don't expect this game to blow your mind.  But every once in a while, it's fine to just put on some To Zanarkand, pour a glass of cider, and play something nice and chill.