Existenz On the Ruins of Chaos Description:

Existenz On the Ruins of Chaos is a hybrid card and board game. Originally a CCG this version of the game comes with four decks ready to play.

Existenz takes place in a world where an experiment has resulted in the Chaos virus being unleashed. The virus has caused mutations in life forms and destroyed most technology. You play one of four factions that are fighting for survival and domination.

If you have played other CCGs you will be familiar with the basic gameplay of Existenz. You must have specific colored crystals in order to place a Summons on the board. Summons move and attack your foes which also costs crystals. There are five types of Summons, army, beast, berserker, dragon and vessel. You may only have one of each type of Summons on the board at one time.

There are two other card types besides Summons. They are Flux and Catalyst. Flux are instant effects that are played then discarded. Catalysts are effects that stay in play until someone makes you discard them. Again to play these cards you must use crystals of a specific color.

The board is what makes Existenz different from similar card games. It matters where your pieces are on the battlefield. The board is made up of intertwining circles and you may never move or attack on an acute angle.

You can win three different ways. Getting your life base to an end point on the board, killing your opponents’ life base or if an opponent has no cards left to draw.

Quick Review of Existenz On the Ruins of Chaos:

Existenz combines common elements from CCGs (Magic the Gathering in particular) with a board to show unit positions. If you have played Magic you will learn Existenz easily and quickly.

The components in this game are excellent. The rules are exceptional and look great. The way everything looks and goes together is very good.

Existenz On the Ruins of Chaos comes with four different faction decks. Each deck plays differently and offers its own experience. The game is also now a LCG instead of a CCG like originally planned. That makes it much easier on your wallet.

Unfortunately there are a couple things about Existenz that weren’t as good for me. I like the idea of a board adding tactical positioning to a card game. But the restriction on the movement and attacks (no acute angles) feel more like a limitation than a strategic obstacle. This is only aggravated by the fact you can only have five units on the board at any one time.

If you are looking into Existenz I think you should try it out first. You might like it more than I did. This is not to say I disliked it. I just think other card games (LCGs or CCGs) would hit my table first.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 3 out of 6
Overall 3 out of 6

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Project Pandora Grim Cargo Description:

Project Pandora Grim Cargo is a two player, sci-fi themed skirmish miniatures game. You play as either the Corporation or the Veer-myn (alien rat–men).

Project Pandora Grim Cargo is made by Mantic Games. They also produce Dwarf King’s Hold. Project Pandora has similar tiles, rules and combat.

The game comes with six scenarios including a training mission to help you learn the basics of the game.

Each player has a set of nine action tokens. On your turn you play an action token and one mini may take one of the actions listed on the token. Some tiles allow you to act with two minis while others let you act with three or four. Actions include: shoot, move (or a combination of these) or a special action.

The Corporation has a tile that lets them shoot in reaction to a Veer-myn movement. Veer-myn, on the other hand, have a tile that lets them rush their foe.

Once used an action token is used it is discarded. At any time you may spend an entire turn issuing new orders to make all nine tokens useable again.

Combat entails rolling a certain number of six-sided dice for attacking and defending. The number of dice is modified based on your skills, if you are injured or outnumbered, or other circumstances. After both players have rolled their dice you compare your dice in order from the highest to the lowest. If the attacker beats the defender’s roll and their armor value they are hit.

Veer-myn are easier to hit but harder to damage because they can dodge. The Corporation have heavier armor and are harder to hit period.

The Grim Cargo is the name of the spaceship you are fighting on. The Veer-myn have advantages scurrying through the dark passages of the ship. The Corporation does much better in the light of larger rooms. You can turn on or off a light in a room with your special action token. The Corporation might also have flares that will light a room or corridor for a turn. Veer-myn are even able to come back as reinforcements if they are killed in dark places.

The Veer-myn fire toxic weapons that hamper the Corporation. The Corporation are prepared and have detox kits to clear areas of toxic waste.

The six scenarios are varied and even come with designer’s notes with tips for each side.

Quick Review of Project Pandora Grim Cargo:

Project Pandora Grim Cargo is a very fun miniatures game. The miniatures are plastic, easy to assemble and look very good. The rules are pretty straight forward and are very easy to pick up if you have played Dwarf King’s Hold.

The components look great but I still wish the tiles were thicker and that player aids were included. The box is pretty flimsy and has no compartments for holding things in place. The game doesn’t suffer from these things, but they’d be nice to have.

Personally I enjoy fantasy-themed games over sci-fi ones, but there are several elements in Project Pandora I really like more than Dwarf King’s Hold. It feels more strategic having a pool of tokens you choose from. Deciding what tiles to use and when to use them is a large part of winning.

There is also some fun back and forth with the toxic firearms of the Veer-myn and the detox kits of the Corporation. This same thing happens with turning on and off the lights in rooms. This adds tactical depth and makes timing more important.

If you enjoy skirmish games, especially ones with a sci-fi theme like Space Hulk, you should try Project Pandora Grim Cargo out. Players that liked Dwarf King’s Hold should try this too. The system is simple and plays quick so newcomers would like Project Pandora too.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6

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Paths of Glory Description:

Paths of Glory is a card-driven, medium weight war game for two players. The game takes place during WWI and you play either the Allied forces or their Central Powers opponents.

Paths of Glory has two separate decks one for each side. These decks consist of three sub-decks: Mobilization, Limited War and Total War. You begin the game with your Mobilization deck and add the others as you increase your war status with Events.

The game turn is divided into eight phases: Mandated Offensive, Action, Attrition, Siege, War Status, Replacement and Draw.

You roll a die each Mandated Offensive phase to determine if a nation must attack this turn. You will lose victory points if your nation doesn’t attack.

The Action phase consists of six rounds of card play. You alternate actions with your opponent and play one card. Each card may be played for one of four different effects: Events, Operations Points, Strategic Redeployment, Replacements or as Combat Modfiers. Used for Operations you may move and attack. Strategic Redeployment represents long distance movement. Replacements add units at the end of turn. While Combat Modifiers change your (or your opponent’s) DRM (die roll modifier).

If your units are out of supply they are removed during the Attrition phase. Your unit is determined to be out of supply if it doesn’t connect via friendly spaces to a supply source. Armies removed this way are lost from the game. Corps units lost to attrition return to the replacement area on the map.

During the Siege phase, your forts under siege must roll to resist or be destroyed. Destroys forts may not be replaced and no longer give advantages to your defending units.

You check your War Commitment Level in the War Status phase. If it is high enough you add the Limited War cards to your Mobilization deck and later add the Total War cards. You also check if either player has met their victory conditions. If the combined total of both players’ War Status is 40 or more the game ends and victory is determined.

You spend your replacement points are spent to heal damaged units or add new units to the game. The number of points you have to spend during each Replacement Phase is determined by the cards you played for Replacement during the Action phase.

Lastly you draw back up to seven cards discarding any unwanted combat cards before you draw.

Quick Review of Paths of Glory:

Paths of Glory is strategic, intense and fun. You will find yourself wanting to do more than you can on most every turn. The card play during the Action phase will determine whether you can beat your opponent.

Paths of Glory looks great and the components are top-notch. The rules are clearly written and annotated well. You will want to keep them close for the first few games. There are a lot of exceptions to the rules and you’ll need to reference them. Thankfully they are listed on a page in the back of the rulebook. I also think you should read the rules then read the example of play and then read the rules again. It will help you learn some basic strategies and the basics of the game.

Like I said the card play is the meat of Paths of Glory and since each card can be used for several different things you’ll need to determine the best uses for the cards you draw. If you play this game with someone with analysis paralysis you might want to split the session into two evenings. You might want to do that anyway as Paths of Glory is long.

I don’t like making game length a negative thing but for me it can be. You should be aware one full campaign game can take about 10 hours. I have a family and know the game length will be a barrier to get this on the table. That may be different for you but just be aware, it is a long game.

I am not a huge war gamer but think most everyone should try Paths of Glory out. War gamers will love it and most everyone should enjoy it.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 5 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6

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3. Nightfall The Coldest War Review

Nightfall The Coldest War Description:

Nightfall The Coldest War is the third expansion for Nightfall. This is a stand-alone expansion and does not require the base game to play.

I’m mostly going to talk about the new things The Coldest War adds to the game of Nightfall. If you are unfamiliar with the base game, you can read my Nightfall review here.

There are six new characters for your starting deck. The new cards have new abilities and just as before you get two of each color.

Moon Phases have been added but are optional. There are six Moon Phases that may be randomly switched at the end of your turn. Each Moon Phase helps or hinders a different type of minion.

The Coldest War also introduces a couple new mechanics. First there are now actions that modify minions. Named Still Standing and Full Battle Rattle these actions attach onto a minion you have in play. Still Standing allows a minion to stay in play until destroyed and Full Battle Rattle adds 2 strength to a minion.

The other new mechanic is Combat Effects. Cards with Combat Effects are played right from your hand during the Combat Phase. Some may only be played during your combat phase.

The new wounds included in The Coldest War consist of all the wound effects found in previous Nightfall expansions. It also adds a wound that will chain any two cards.

There are rules for a constructed deck format at the back of the rule book. (I have not had a chance to play them but they look interesting.) The new draft rules from Blood Country are included in The Coldest War rules too.

Of course there are new cards, twelve new minions and twelve new actions.

Quick Review of Nightfall The Coldest War:

The Coldest War is the third stand-alone expansion for Nightfall. It adds some elements flair to the game but nothing too complicated. The biggest change is the Combat Effects. They require you to pay more attention.

The new starting cards add some nice variety and new abilities. They might be a bit more powerful than the starters from the base set, but not too much.

The Moon Phases add a small wrinkle that is ok but I am glad it is optional. In early plays this will be just one more thing to keep track of. Since the phase is determined randomly there is not too much strategy involved with the current Moon Phase. You will simply want to change it if it hinders a majority of you minions.

The Coldest War is another fine addition to the Nightfall franchise. It adds more options for the archives and the start decks. If you like Nightfall you should definitely try out The Coldest War, you’ll enjoy it.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 5 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6

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• Five Fingered Severance

• Grave Business

• Those Pesky Humans

• Nitro Dice

• Nile deLuxor

• Sturgeon

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Ends
This giveaway ends on May 19, 2012 @ 11.59 PM EST

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Dragon Valley Description:

Dragon Valley is a mix of a resource management, tower defense and tactical war game. Once you score 30 points the game is over. If you manage to finish with the highest points you win.

In Dragon Valley as the start player (called the King’s Favored) you get to divvy up the resources for the round. Depending on the number of players a certain number of special ability cards, buildings and units will be available. The King’s Favored splits the resources into lots and the player with the lowest total points selects the first lot. The King’s Favored selects the last lot.

After lots are chosen you deploy your units and enemies. Then players take actions consisting of moving their armies, placing buildings or recharging used buildings.

Some of the units in the lots will be on your side. Others will be enemies like dragons, battering rams and orcs. These each move at different rates but they all move toward your keep. You must eliminate them first. Your knights, archers and trebuchets interact with each enemy differently. Some are destroyed by units while others destroy those same enemy units.

Enemy units may also be destroyed if you can force them off a cliff. This is accomplished by constructing buildings that will guide them off the map.

Each turn there is a new King’s Favored that will pull random resources and divvy them up. So the above cycle continues until someone reaches thirty points. Once a player reaches thirty points it signals the final round. The player with the highest score after the final round wins.

Quick Review of Dragon Valley:

Dragon Valley has some interesting mechanics. The first is the “divvy resources and choose last”. This forces you to figure out what units will help others and possibly match them with tougher enemies. Paying attention to what the other players are doing is very important. What buildings or units do other players want? Are they willing to pick up a dragon to get what they want? Those kinds of questions will guide you as you create the lots.

The tower defense aspect of Dragon Valley is fun too. You need to decide where to place buildings and units in order to route the monsters where you’d like them to go. Usually that is off the cliffs or into the waiting arms of your army.

The components and artwork for this game are good. I really like some of the artwork while some of it is just ok. The board looks great and everything is pretty durable. Everything but the cards. I highly suggest sleeving these as you will shuffle them often and they tend to show some wear quickly.

The downside of such interesting choices in the initial phase is the downtime it creates. The player that has to divvy things out has a lot of things to consider and that will take time. In fact if the play suffers from analysis paralysis it can be painful. This may be accentuate by the fact you cannot plan for what to do next as you do not know what resources you will be receiving.

Dragon Valley is a game that gets better the more you play it. Experienced players will have less downtime and you’ll know what buildings will help bolster the strategy you are trying to use to win.

If you like tower defense games or the “divvy and pick” mechanic I described above you should try Dragon Valley out, or if you are looking for a game with some different mechanics.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 2 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6

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Zip Zap Description:

Zip Zap is a fast-paced card game. You goal each round is to discard all your cards. While similar to Speed (also called Slam or Spit), Zip Zap has a couple distinct elements.

To begin Zip Zap you shuffle and deal out cards based on the number of players. The deck consists of four colors and a wild suit all of which are numbered from 1 to 10. You also start the game with one Zap card. There will be some leftover cards that form a face-down draw pile.

You draw the top the card from the leftovers. There are no turns in Zip Zap, you simply play a card that is next in sequence and matches the color of the top card. Wilds match any color but may only be followed by the next highest number (of any color) in sequence.

Once someone plays a 10 they may play any card from their hand. If no one is able to play a
Card from their hand one is drawn from the top of the leftover deck.

Zap cards are special and must be played after you lay a numbered card. They stop play and allow you to play any card from your hand.

Once someone has no cards remaining in their hands the round ends. You play a number of rounds equal to the number of players.

At the end of each round you score your cards. Each solid color card is worth 1 point, wild cards are worth 3 points and Zap cards are worth 5 points. The player with the lowest score after the last round wins.

Quick Review of Zip Zap:

Zip Zap plays fast and is easy to teach and learn. This game is fun for families and kids. Your game group might even enjoy it as a filler.

The components and graphic design are perfect for a kid’s game. Game play is simple and you should be playing this within minutes of opening it.

My young son enjoys playing Zip Zap and I like that it encourages him to match colors and count. If you have kids, Zip Zap will be fun for them and you.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 2 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 out of 6
Replay Value 3 out of 6
Complexity 2 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6

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The Mill Description:

The Mill dates back to Rome circa 600 BC. It is an abstract strategy game that combines Go and Tic-Tac-Toe. And although it is simple to learn it takes time to master.

The Mill is also known as Nine Men’s Morris (and other names). To begin each player has nine stone pieces in either dark or light tone. Each turn you place a piece or once all pieces are placed you move one piece one node.

The suede pouch contains the board and all the playing pieces. The board is made up of \three concentric squares. Each of these squares has nodes on the end and mid points. The midpoints also connect the three squares.

You may place a piece on any free node. If you get three of your pieces in a row (not around a corner) you may remove one of your opponent’s pieces.

The game ends once one player only has two pieces left.

Quick Review of The Mill:

The Mill is one of 12 Games in the Reliquary Collection by Bibelot Games. First I want to point out how cool these look. They are all old games and the suede pouches and stone components add to the rustic feel of them. On top of that they are all super portable.

The Mill is fun and very easy to teach and learn. That said it took me a few games to figure out some of the placement strategy. At no point was I lost but I certainly have become better the more I have played.

The advantage an experienced player has may turn-off new comers, but after several games (which don’t take long) it should be eliminated. It will also be hard to come back in The Mill. Once someone is up a couple pieces it is hard to come back.

If you like abstract strategy games you should check The Mill out. If you like history and historic games you should look at the Reliquary Collection. All these games are fun, portable and look fantastic.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 6 out of 6
Luck 0 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6

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