In Valley of the Kings players compete to have the most lavish tomb. Cards are bought from a central pyramid, and all cards can be used to give gold, effects, or when entombed points (entombing effectively removes cards from the game). Deciding how to use your cards, what to go after, and when to entomb makes this an interesting deck-builder that challenges me to innovate.
Kingsburg is a reduced-luck dice rolling game. There is significant strategic variety in this game, and dice rolls help to narrow your options; high rolls are not, however, an auto-win. While luck comes into play in other aspects, this game implements dice rolling in an interesting and unique way.
My Epic Card by Card Analysis (Drafting) article has just been updated to include analysis for all of the Sage faction cards. Click the article title in the previous sentence to be directed there.
My analysis of the Wild cards will be completed by end of day 2/15/16. The frequently referenced Lightning Storm will finally get its rating and explanation.
The Duke is a tactical 1v1 chess-like game with flipping tiles and randomly acquired pieces. Using a tile flips it and changes what it does. Instead of using a tile, a player may draw a random new tile and add it to the board. Since the board rapidly changes, foresight is great, but adaptation is critical.
Firefly is a faithful adaptation of the cult TV series of the same name. In this 2+ hour game, you hire crew, do jobs, and compete to finish preset goals. Bad luck can be brutal, but I get engrossed in both the game and the Firefly universe while playing, success.
ForewordJaipur is an ingeniously streamlined two-player trading game. The rules are simple, each turn is quick, rounds are short, and strategic concepts flow from it naturally while playing. I’ll explain that last one in more detail later, but I love this game because it is much deeper than I expected.
Strategically collect and sell 6 different goods (and camels) in order to make the most money.
On each turn you can either take cards or sell cards.
Take 1 face-up good from the central 5 and put it in your hand. (You cannot have more than 7 cards in your hand at once, camels do not count.) Replace it with the top card from the deck.
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Take all face-up camels from the central 5 and place them in front of you face up. Replace them with the top card(s) from the deck.
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Exchange any number of cards from the central 5 with camels in front of you and/or cards from your hand. Be careful that your hand size does not exceed 7 after exchanging.
Instead of taking cards, you can sell up to 5 cards of the same good at once. For each card you sell, you would take 1 goods-token of the respective type. (The first goods-tokens for each good are worth more then the later goods-tokens, except for silver.)
While cloth, leather, and spices can be sold in quantities of 1 or more, diamonds, silver, and gold must be sold in quantities of 2 or more.
In addition, if you sell 3 goods at once, you would get the top 3-goods bonus-token (worth between 1-3 points). If you sell 4 at once, you would get the top 4-goods bonus-token (worth between 4-6 points). Sell 5 or more and you get top 5-goods bonus-token (worth between 8-10 points).
The round ends when either:
At the end of the round, the player with the most camels left over gets a 5-point bonus-token. Both players add their points, and the player with the most points wins the round.
Best 2 out of 3 rounds determines the winner of the game. If neither player has 2 wins, reset the game and play again.
I love this game because it is so simple and deceptively clever. The general premise is literally just get cards and sell cards, and it is very easy to teach. Even in a player’s first game, they will be able to make solid plays and high-quantity sales. The more you play the game though, the more you realize how you can manipulate your acquisitions, sales, and camels to best utilize the board.
I am not going to go into too much detail here because I plan on writing a strategy article about Jaipur at some point, and I do not want to scare people off. It really is easy to learn and fun to play immediately, but there is interesting strategy to learn as well. For those of you interested, a couple questions to keep in mind while playing are included below.
In Splendor, players collect temporary gems to buy permanent gems. Since permanent gems help in future purchases, get you points, and are initially available to everyone, each player must compete to buy the best combination. Play is quick and rewarding whether you chase a lot of small cards or save for big ones.
Jaipur is a surprisingly deep, quick two-player trading game. Either take cards or sell cards; there are camels and 6 different types of goods. The more goods you sell at once, the bigger the reward. The more camels you have, the greater your options. A very simple, easily-accessible premise, but after 25 rounds I am still discovering more strategy.
Jamaica is a pirate-racing, doubloon-hoarding game with cannons. While racing around the island, ships fight over treasure, doubloons, and food in a quick-paced light-hearted competition. A solid blend of luck, strategy, and pirates make this an excellent family game.
My Epic Card by Card Analysis (Drafting) article has just been updated to include analysis for all of the Good faction cards. Click the article title in the previous sentence to be directed there.
My analysis of the Sage cards will be completed by end of day 2/8/16. I will finally get to explain why I talk about Muse and Erase so much.
