Crafting an Obsidian Table (The Table is Lava)

The classic childhood game the Floor is Lava was played by millions of kids around the world.  Yours truly even played it, though really it wasn't fun when all the furniture you had available to climb was a bed, and like 2 chairs.  But still, there was something thrilling about trying to figure out how to go places when all you have are 3 spots to move around in.  Well, time to get out your sneakers, because now The Table is Lava, somehow.

BACKGROUND:  The Table is Lava is a dexterity game for 2-4 people, and was created in 2018 by James Schoch, with art by Jennifer Vargas, and published by R&R Games.  Players throw cards at meeples to knock them off the island, while keeping their own alive.

GAMEPLAY:  On their turn, each player tosses or flicks one of their cards at the opponents meeples to attempt to knock them off the cards to remove them from the game.  If a card is a thumbs width apart from another card or less, all players place a number of their meeples on the card thrown, indicated by the card, and the player continues throwing cards.  Once a card is more than a thumbs width apart from another card, their turn ends, and players don't get to place meeples on the card.

WINNING:  Once all players have used up their cards, the players tally up their points.  For each 'standing', or upright meeple, the player gets 2 points, with meeples laying flat down on their 'back' scoring one point.  The player with the most points wins.

CONCLUSION:  Reviewing dexterity based games are always a bit tricky to review, because it's hard to say if a game is unbalanced, or if you just suck at it.  Throwing cards is always a bit of a tricky mechanic to pull off, as cards are usually not designed to be balanced.  That being said, there's something charming about this game that I can't help but like, and for all that I can see, it seems balanced.  It's not terribly hard to put enough force to knock a meeple off, it's the aiming that lends itself to the most difficulty, and that's where a lot of people might get hung up.  Because of the level of skill involved, this game is difficult.  It does lend itself to allowing players to catch up from behind with a good or lucky/unlucky toss.  Ultimately, I would say this is one hot spot that's worth trying out.

Ruler of the Islands (Kahuna)

HELLO!  I was the previous ruler of this island, and yes, it does look like a hand, deal.  But I have grown tired of the crown, what with the remaining on the island, the treasure, the neighboring war, and the tribute.  So, I have decide to leave, to adventure and explore beyond the horizon, and will name you the next ruler of the island.  And don't worry too much about that war I mentioned, they only want control over all the islands.  Have fun being the next Kahuna!

BACKGROUND:  Kahuna is a strategy board game for 2 players, and was created in 1998 by Günter Cornett, and published by KOSMOS.  2 players attempt to take control of the most islands in a game of strategy and timing.

GAMEPLAY:  Each turn, the turn player may play up to 5 cards from their hand, or secretly discards 1 or more cards under the discard pile.  A player may choose not to play or discard any cards.  When a card is played, the player puts a Magic Bridge token from the island printed on the card onto a dotted line connected to any neighboring island.  The player may then draw 1 card or pass, discarding 1 or more cards if they have 5 cards in their hand.  If a player chooses to pass, the opponent must draw on their turn.

ISLANDS:  Once a player has more than half of their Bridges on an Island, they take control of that island, marked with a players Kahuna Stones, and remove all of the opponents Bridges connected to that island.  A player may also remove an opponents Bridge by playing two cards that only name 1 of the 2 islands the Bridge is connecting.

ROUNDS:  The game is played in 3 rounds.  When all the cards have been taken, the player with control of the most islands scores 1 point in the first round, or 2 points in the second round, with no points scored on ties.  All cards in a players hand, as well as all Bridge and Kahuna tokens, remain.

WINNING:  On the third round, the players count how many islands they control, and the player with the most scores the difference between both players' scores.  Scores from all 3 rounds are added up, with the player with the most points winning.  Ties are broken by \whoever scored the third round, with a tie there broken by who had the most bridges at the end.

CONCLUSION:  Every time I play Kahuna, I start out liking it.  There's a huge strategy element here about when to take cards, when to make your opponent do so, where to play and what to discard.  The game is incredibly promising, then the 2nd round starts.  The scoring isn't too bad, but it's the games utter lack of care about who's in the lead that's the problem.  Once a player is far enough ahead, they enter what I like to call Psuedo-Star Mode.  Like the Power Star in Mario, once a player is far enough ahead, it really doesn't matter what you do, and that's the problem.  Rather than start fresh, or give the player falling behind any advantage, the board state remains the same.  This means that a player who is winning will likely continue to win, because they already have a lead on the opponent.  Even if the other player somehow manages to take the lead the next round, they now have that huge lead on the opponent.  I like this game, but I only want to be the Kahuna in one shot, not three.

WarGames Never Changes (Fallout)

War.  War never changes. We know that all too well, but this time feels so much more real.  Maybe because I wasn't there for the bombs in Hiroshima, for the Great War and it's consequences.  Maybe it's because I have to deal with this, here and now.  Or maybe it's because there's a spider crawling up my leg as I write this.  That's life in the wasteland, in the world of Nuclear Fallout.

BACKGROUND:  Fallout is a Strategy board game for 1-4 players.  It is based on the 2015 game, Fallout 4.  It was designed by Andrew Fischer and Nathan I. Hajek, and published by Fantasy Flight Games.  Players align with various groups to battle against their rivals and the wasteland itself, to become the best faction and rule the wasteland.

GAMEPLAY:  Each player has 2 actions they can take on their turn:

• EXPLORE:  Flip over a tile face-down Map tile when on an adjacent space.
• MOVE:  Gain 2 movement points.  A Movement point is used to move the player to an adjacent spot, seperated by white lines.  Difficult terrain, marked by a red line, requires spending 2 movement points.   (These can be used during or after any action during the players turn.)  
• ENCOUNTER:  If the players location has either a Wasteland or Encounter icon, they can choose to have the next player draw from the matching deck and read the text in italic and next to each number.  Once the player chooses which number they want/can fulfill, the reading player reads their result under the chosen text. 
• QUEST:  Some Objectives require the player to take this action to complete.  Whenever an Objective is fulfilled, the player takes the rewards from underneath, and reveals a new one at the end of the turn.
• FIGHT: If a player is in a space with a face-up enemy, or in an adjacent while they have a ranged weapon, they may choose to fight it.
• CAMP:  The player heals 3 HP, Unexhausts all items, and gains a Well-Rested trait, to spend to reroll for a test or battle.

COMBAT: When a player Fights, they roll the 3 VATS dice, attempting to roll the matching body parts indicated on the enemy token.  However, any stars, or Hits, deal that much damage to the player.  If the weapon the player is using has a SPECIAL letter, and the player has that letter, they may reroll.  If the number of dice hit the enemy is equal to its level, indicated in the green gear, the enemy is defeated, the player gains XP on their board equal to its level, and a new enemy is placed face-down on the original starting space of that enemy.

LEVEL:  Once the XP peg reaches the end of the board, it goes back to the beginning (adding remaining XP), and the player draws two new random SPECIAL letters, keeping only one.  If it's one the player already has, they draw a one shot Perk card indicated by the letter they kept.

ENEMIES:  Once all players have taken their 2 actions, a player draws an Agenda card.  The symbols on the bottom of the card activates all matching face-up enemies, and flip over all face-down enemies face-up.  Any activated enemy moves a space closer to the nearest adventurer.  Any activated enemy in a space with a player fights them.

TESTS:  Some Encounters requires a player to do a test, indicated by SPECIAL letters and a number. The player rolls the VATS dice, attempting to get a number of Hits, equal to or higher thant he printed number.  Any SPECIAL letters the player has on their board matching the letters printed lets the player re-roll any dice per matching letter. 

DEATH:  If at any point the green Rads and red Health marker at the bottom of a players board meet, then the player's figure is placed on the Crossroads Camp space.  Their Health goes back up to full, while their Rads stays the same, and they discard all non-equipped inventory cards. If a players Rads are at the highest point, they lose the game and are eliminated.

WINNING: The game ends if any Faction reaches the end of their track, or if any player reaches the goal on their private Agenda card.

CONCLUSION:  Fallout is an incredibly detailed game, faithful to its source material.  However, just like Dark Souls, that dedication to theme leads to a mechanically clunky and slow game.  Even when playing with people who try to make the most out of their turn and plan on other players turns, it takes a while due to combat, and tests.  That is not to say it is a bad game, but that it merely appeals specifically to fans of Fallout, such as the Dark Souls game appeals to its player base.  If you are such a fan, try it out, see what you think.  Anyone else, this is one Fallout you're best avoiding.

A Tactical Retreat (War Chest)

Congratulations, you are the brand new captain of this rag-tag team.  Sure, they might seem crazy, but each one has proven their loyalty and worth on the field of battle.  Besides, it's not like the the war is going to advance on us, so let's...hmm, a message?  For me?  I'll read it in here.  Oh, it's time.  The war is advancing on us, grab your War Chest and meet me outside.

BACKGROUND:  War Chest is a tile based strategy game designed by Trevor Benjamin & David Thompson for 2 or 4 players, and published by Alderac Entertainment Group.  Playing either 1v1 or in teams, players draw and use tiles to conquer their opponents and claim all the special Locations.

GAMEPLAY:   Each player has two phases on their turn: First, they draw 3 Coins from their bag into their hand.  During the 2nd phase, the player can either either play a Unit Coin, or discard a coin face-up or face-down, each having different effects.  If a player ever runs out of Coins to draw, they put their Coins in their discard area back into the bag to draw.  If there are none and still not enough coins, they merely lose those actions.

COINS:  To play a Unit Coin, place it face-up onto a green Location space, or onto an matching Unit.  Players can only control one of each type of Units on the board.  Once per round, players may discard any coin face-down to take the Initiative Marker to start the next round, to add a Unit Coin from their Supply to their bag, or pass.  By discarding a Unit Coin face-up, the matching Unit on the board can now take actions.

UNITS:  Units can Move, Control, Attack, or use Tactics when a matching coin is discarded.  Moving allows the Unit to move 1 space.  Attacking allows the Unit to remove an opponents Unit adjacent to them, or remove the top Coin if it was bolstered.  Tactics are located on the card, and give special abilities to the Unit.  Some Units, like the Archer, can only Attack by using its Tactic.

WINNING:  When a Unit is on a Location tile, the player may also discard a coin face-up to place a Control marker there, removing an opponents if one exists.  When any player or team has only their Control markers placed on all the Locations, they win.

CONCLUSION:  War Chest is a tactic strategy game, with luck elements sprinkled in to add some flavor and challenge, and that's where the game gets me.  I love strategy and tactics, but the drawing from the bag element feels something that should be kept to games like Clank, a game that by nature is luck-focused.  This makes it feel bad when you just draw nothing and your piece dies because you needed them to move, but they couldn't due to an unfortunate random pull.   But even with that, there's still a bevy of strategy and planning that goes into the game, and you can adapt to the luck, it's just harder.  If you want a good strategy game, then open up this War Chest.