Pro's and Con's Review: Rise of Augustus

Format: Board Game

Designer: Paolo Mori

Publisher: Hurrican, Hobbity.eu

I recently attended the Toy and Game Expo on behalf of Roll'n Bump distributor Îlot 307 inc. where I ran a tournament of one of the brand new games they distribute: 2013 Spiel de Jahres nominee: Rise of Augustus.

Of course, having to run a tournament of a brand new game meant learning to play. And having my hands on a brand new game meant getting requests to teach it and sitting down to play it some more. All told, I think I got in about a half dozen games of Rise of Augustus by the time the expo closed its doors.

So what is Rise of Augustus all about? Well, I hate to bust out the same comparison all other reviewers have been using, but it's an apt one. Playing Rise of Augustus is a bit like playing Bingo for gamers. Before you go running off screaming at the thought of smoky parlours filled with listless players blowing pay-day loans just bear in mind this is a Spiel de Jahres nominee and, much like past alum 7 Wonders, offers easy to learn game play with enough meat to keep true gamers engaged. Read on for my full review from a professional and a consumer point of view.

Pro's and Con's Review: Terra Mystica

Format: Board Game
Designers: Jens Drögemüller and Helge Ostertag
Publisher: Z-Man Games

I recently attended the Ludo Outaouais event in nearby Gatineau where I got to play Terra Mystica, a brand new game from Z-Man Games that's been getting a fair bit of buzz.

Terra Mystica is a city building and resource management game with a hint of terraforming that combines elements seen in multiple other games into something unique but ultimately more complex than it needs to be.

Read on for a short review of my experience with the game from a professional and consumer point of view.

Pro's and Con's Review: King for a Day

Format: Card Game
Designers: Mike Petty
Publisher: The Game Crafter

In this Pro's and Con's review, I'm going to have a look at King for a Day a neat card available through The Game Crafter that deftly mixes elements of city building with a fun party game twist.

King for a Day would be fairly straightforward city building card game if not for a cool and unique mechanism that brings in a social element that should be more familiar to fans of party games than typical strategy board gamers. This interesting twist is at the centre of King for a Day. You see, the game is played in several rounds for the duration of which one player will be king or queen. Each round represents a day, get it, King for a Day! Every player gets to be king for a day, well, two actually by the time the game is over (three days if you're only three players). So, what does it mean to be king? At the start of each round, the current king or queen will draw a card from the "Deal" deck and read it out loud as an offer to the other players. Here's the party game twist that will be familiar to anyone who has played games like Balderdash, Apples to Apples or What?: Each player will secretly write down what they would like to offer the king in order to be awarded the Deal card. These cards are extremely valuable and may give immediate or lasting bonuses. After having read the offers, the king will choose one, awarding the player the Deal card in exchange for whatever the player had offered. This aspect of the game really is the meat as it's great fun to watch the offers escalate over the course of the game as players have more money, resources and even previously earned Deal cards to offer up to the current monarch.

So, that's the gist of the game, now let's have a closer look at King for a Day from a professional and a consumer point of view, shall we?

Pro's and Con's Micro Review: Pix n' Love Rush

Platform: iOS
Developer: Bulky Pix

I've been playing quite a few iOS games lately and I wanted to give Pix n' Love Rush a quick review.

Pro's and Con's review: Pizza Boy

Format: iOS
Developer: Acne Play
Publisher: Acne Play

Platform game controls are tricky to get right on a touch screen device. I've played a number of decent platform games on my iPod Touch over the years, the better ones usually leveraging the device's unique interface rather than attempting to shoehorn traditional game controls onto the screen. Pizza Boy is an exception, it emulates traditional physical controls by use of on-screen virtual buttons and, believe it or not, it plays really well and does a great job delivering the look, feel and playability of some of the best platformers of yesteryear on modern mobile devices.

So let's run Pizza Boy through the Pro's and Con's paces, examining the game from a professional and consumer's point of vue.

Pro's and Con's Review: Of Power and Glory

Format: Board Game
Designers: Allen Lamb
Distributed Through: The Game Crafter

In this review I have a look at a game from a fellow Game Crafter: Of Power and Glory. It's hard to classify this game as it incorporates elements of worker placement as well as a unique, how do I put this... European conquest simulator? In Of Power and Glory, players take on the role of noble families exerting their influences on eight kings of Europe in the hopes of supporting the right kings to ultimately win the game. This indirect influence over the standings of the kings really is the meat of this game and what makes it worth trying. Though the game is fairly deep and strategic it also plays relatively quickly, a game usually lasting about and hour or so.

So, in the usual Pro's and Con's fashion, I'll be giving you a run down of the game from a professional and consumer point of view. Read on to find out what I though of Of Power and Glory.

Pro's and Con's Review: Tikal

Format: Board Game
Designers: Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer
Publisher: Rio Grande Games

Let me tell you a little story. Three years ago, I haven't even heard of Tikal, a game about jungle exploration and treasure hunting. I had probably seen the box in stores and maybe read something in passing about The Mask Trilogy, but had never looked into it further. Then, in December of 2010 I got my very own copy for my thirtieth birthday from the guys in my game group at work. I wasn't expecting any gifts, so I was pleased and surprised and wondered what this game was all about. One of the guys showed me how to play a few weeks later and I then understood what the gift truly meant, they had given me what would become one of my favourite board games, one that I remain eager to bring to the table to this day. So, I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again: Thanks guys!

As is the custom around here, I'll be giving Tikal the usual Pro's and Con's treatment peering into the guts of the game from a professional's and a consumer's point of view. Let's see what Tikal has to offer.

Pro's and Con's Review: Stone Age

Format: Board Game
Designers: Bernd Brunnhofer
Publisher: Rio Grande Games

Stone Age is a worker placement game for 2 to 4 players that's easy enough for players just getting into the hobby while still giving your noggin' a good workout if you're playing against shrewd competition. Each turn consists of three rounds during which players will place workers, reap the rewards of their placements then feed their people. Lather rinse repeat until one of two end game conditions is reached at which point the final score is tallied and I usually find out how badly I got trounced.

So, let's give Stone Age the ol' Pro's and Con's treatment as I examine the game from a professional's points of view and as a consumer. Read on dear reader, read on!

Pro's and Con's Review: Monospace

Format: iOS
Developer: Nonverbal
Publisher: Nonverbal

Monospace is an oldie but a goodie, a game close to my heart as it was one of the first iOS games to really suck me in with it's cleaver use of 3D, stark visual style and brain burning puzzles.

I love this game so much that I figured, in spite of its age, I would give it the ol' Pro's and Con's treatment, having a look at its flaws and merits as a professional and as a consumer. Read on for the review.

Pro's and Con's Review: Kingsburg

Format: Boardgame
Designers:Andrea Chiarvesio and Luca Iennaco
Publisher:Fantasy Flight Games

In this Pro's and Con's review I'll be having a go at Kingsburg from Fantasy Flight Games. Kingsburg, it's a dice game with meat on it's bones!

For those not in the know, my Pro's and Con's reviews bring together the two sides of me as a game's enthusiast, the professional side where I take a more analytical look at the game and the consumer side where I tell you what I think of the game as a player.

Pro's and Con's review: Jetpack Joyride

Format: iOS
Developer: Halfbrick
Publisher: Halfbrick


If you haven't picked up Jetpack Joyride for your iDevice yet, pick it up because it's a ton of fun! If you are looking for a little more info than that, read on! As usual, in this Pro's and Con's review I'm going to go through my thoughts on  Jetpack Joyride, an endless running (flying?) game for iOS devices, from a professional's point of view and as a consumer. So on with it!

Pro's and Con's Mini Review: Train of Thought

Format: Party Game
Designers: Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim
Publisher: Tasty Minstrel Games

Train of Thought is the first published game from the Bamboozle Brothers, Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim. It's a party word game for 2 to 7 players that's super simple to learn but a heck of a brain burn to play at times. The game consists of a six sided die, a small hourglass timer and a whack load of cards. Each card has six words on it labeled with a die face. Players take turns being the "Conductor" and try to get the other players to guess a "destination word" from a card that matches a die roll. The tricky part is that the Conductor can only give a three word clue and the clue must contain the "start word" found on another card. If no other player guessed the destination word, the Conductor can then give another three word clue but must incorporate one of the guesses from the other players. This creates a sort of "train" of clues leading ever closer to the destination word.

In this Pro's and Con's review I will look at a few aspects of Train of Thought from a professional and consumer point of view. Here goes!

Pro's and Con's mini review: Edge

Format: iOS (also available on other mobile platforms, MacOS, Windows, Playstation Network)
Developer: Mobigames
Publisher: Mobigames

Pro's Take:
Edge went the "cheaper to produce" route of using abstract visuals set in isometric levels made up of grey block in order to deliver a game that's full of rich content rather than content rich. The levels are, for the most part, very cleverly designed and require some fun block balancing acrobatics and split second timing to complete. The whole game has a slick and simplistic visual and audio style that mary to produce a tight appealing package.

Con's Take:
Hard core gamers will appreciate the fact a level can be completed by simply reaching the exit or, for maximum score, by first collecting all the prisms and doing it in record time. A cool feature that helps this is the inclusion of a "ghost" of your previous best play through when attempting subsequent plays of a level allowing you to literally race against your previous best time. very cool. It looks cool and sounds great too.

On the down side the controls are a bit of an issue playing on my iPod Touch. I've opted to play with the virtual buttons (swipe and tilt options also available) and I find myself hitting unintended buttons once in a while. I've been playing the game more casually and not trying to get crazy good scores so it hasn't been a problem but I could imagine this frustrating me quite a bit if I was trying to get onto the leaderboards.

So, the verdict!? Get Edge, it's cheap and, well, kinda rad! If you want to get around the touch screen control issues, you might want to steer toward one of the desktop versions though.

Edge on Apple App Store
Image from Mobigames

Pro's and Con's: Ra: the Dice Game

Format: Boardgame
Designer:  Reiner Knizia
Publisher: Rio Grande Games

On this first edition of Pro's and Con's we'll be having a look at Ra: The Dice Game designed by the legendarily prolific Dr. Reiner Knizia. I thought it would be an appropriate first review given the recent release of my own game, Shake Out! which is also a dice rolling game that strives to be more than just a "dice fest".

As a gamer I've got, essentially, two sides. On one hand I'm a professional video game artist and semi-pro designer, on the other hand I'm an avid fan and consumer. The Pro's and Con's review brings together both of these facets to highlight some of the interesting things we can glean from a game as Professionals as well as the experiences we can have playing the game as Consumers.