![\"520x285xglassroad_2.png.pagespeed.ic.Wv6S2hy2AU\"](\"http:\/\/traversecityboardgamers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/520x285xglassroad_2.png.pagespeed.ic_.Wv6S2hy2AU.png\")
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Designer – \u00a0 Uwe Rosenberg<\/p>\n
Publisher – \u00a0 Z-Man Games<\/p>\n
Year Published – \u00a0 2013<\/p>\n
Players – \u00a0 1 – 4<\/p>\n
Play Time – \u00a0 75 mins<\/p>\n
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Glass Road is all about making glass in the Bavarian Forest. \u00a0You must manage your glass and brick production on one of the most inventive devices if seen used in a game. \u00a0You must use a roundel which will adjust the values of your goods with the production of others. \u00a0This makes for a very rewarding game experience when you try to master this beast.<\/p>\n
You will also be working with your aquired materials to construct buildings that will give you bonuses at the end of the round. \u00a0Cut the forest to make room for new buildings\u00a0and spread and remove ponds, pits and groves to supply yourself with the items you need to do so.<\/p>\n
There are 15 workers that will be available to use that all other players will have access to as well. \u00a0On your turn you decide which five workers to place in your hand. \u00a0If played and no other players have this worker in their hand then the worker performs both the actions on the card. \u00a0Only one action is performed if the card is in others hands. \u00a0This makes for another interesting aspect of this game. \u00a0Lots of great ideas in this game all brought together under one roof.<\/p>\n
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39. \u00a0 \u00a0 Hanabi<\/strong><\/p>\n Designer – \u00a0 Antoine Bauza<\/p>\n Publishers – \u00a0 R&R Games and Asmodee<\/p>\n Year Published – \u00a0 2010<\/p>\n Players – \u00a0 2 – 5<\/p>\n Play Time – \u00a0 30 mins<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hanabi is a cooperative game in which players try to create the perfect fireworks show before the show is supposed to be performed. \u00a0Players will be placing the cards on the table in the right order and in piles of the same color. There are five different colors of cards, numbered 1-5 in each color.<\/p>\n The real game comes into play when you realize how you must do this. \u00a0Players will have a hand of cards but are not able to look at these cards. \u00a0They will be facing out to the other players so they will know what all the other players have in there hands. \u00a0During your turn you will be able to assist the other players by giving them specific clues as to what is in their hand. \u00a0Clues must be very effective and efficient as each clue given will cause a time toke to be removed and speed along the end of the game.<\/p>\n This game is nothing short of weird when you first start to play. \u00a0It takes a few turns to get affluent with how this all works. \u00a0Once you do this is a great little card game that almost everyone loves.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 38. \u00a0 \u00a0 Lords of Waterdeep<\/strong><\/p>\n Designers – \u00a0 Peter Lee, and Rodney Thompson<\/p>\n Publisher – \u00a0 Wizards of the Coast<\/p>\n Year Published – \u00a0 2012<\/p>\n Players – \u00a0 2 – 5<\/p>\n Play Time – \u00a0 60 – 120 mins<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Lords of Waterdeep, players will be vying for for control of Waterdeep by any means necessary. \u00a0Players will be recruiting adventurers\u00a0throughout the city and completing quests on their behalf which will earn them rewards and influence. \u00a0Buildings will be available to expand the city that will provide the players with new actions. \u00a0Intrigue cards will enact secret plots to benefit its player. \u00a0The game lasts 8 rounds and the player with the highest influence in Waterdeep wins the game.<\/p>\n This is a very standard worker placement game with a little twist from previous released worker placement games. \u00a0The twist being the building that can be constructed. \u00a0The buildings purchased provide players with a new action that was previously unavailable. \u00a0These new actions range anywhere from acquiring new adventurers, trading adventurers, getting new quests, or using the actions taken by another player. \u00a0 The player that purchased the building also gets an added benefit for any other player that uses it. \u00a0This adds a great game variation so play doesn’t become stagnant over the course of new plays.<\/p>\n The players also have a hidden identity that will provide extra bonuses at the end of the game. \u00a0These secret identities give bonuses through what type of quests the player completes. \u00a0The quests all have a type which they associate with. \u00a0These types are Arcana, Piety, Skullduggery, Warfare, and Commerce. \u00a0 Each of the types have a different flavor that usually associate with a different kind of adventurer which demands a different strategy.<\/p>\n Often when you hear about Lords of Waterdeep you will hear about its lack of theme. The fact that all the characters that you recruit are just cubes which takes away from the actual experience. \u00a0I cannot disagree here but I have heard a very good retort for such comments. \u00a0I heard from a podcast that in Lords of Waterdeep you play a lord that doesn’t care much for the peons of Waterdeep. \u00a0They recruit these people with an end in mind. \u00a0They wouldn’t care who they are or what they do as long as they serve a purpose. \u00a0This really sold the light thematic element of the cubes for me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 37. \u00a0 \u00a0 For Sale<\/strong><\/p>\n Designer – \u00a0 Stefan Dorra<\/p>\n Publishers – \u00a0 Eagle-Gryphon Games and\u00a0IELLO<\/p>\n Year Published – \u00a0 1997<\/p>\n Players – \u00a0 3 – 6<\/p>\n Play Time – \u00a0 20 mins<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For Sale is a light filler game about buying and selling real estate. \u00a0The game play is broken up into two phases which are the buying properties phase and the selling properties phase. \u00a0 During the first phase you will be bidding for several properties ranging in value from 1 to 30. \u00a0Every bidding round will have some of the properties turned face up at random and in turn order are bid for. \u00a0Each player may choose to bid higher or to pass on bidding. \u00a0If a player chooses to pass then they take the lowest value property and take back have of their previous bid rounded down. \u00a0Any remainder is returned to the bank as payment. \u00a0The last bid standing takes the highest value property and losses their bid.<\/p>\n After all buildings have been bought then it is time to sell all your acquired properties. \u00a0This is done is a similar manner as the previous phase with a row of cards but this time its money instead. \u00a0The value on these cards range from 0 to 15,000. \u00a0Players in this round choose a property to play for each row of currency cards presented. \u00a0The player with the highest value property revealed gets the highest currency card in the row. \u00a0The next highest value property takes the next highest value currency card and so forth. \u00a0Player with the most money after this phase is the winner.<\/p>\n For Sale is one of my most utilitarian games that I own. \u00a0 It appeals to all kinds of people regardless of their game experience. \u00a0There is a lot of tough decisions to be made which keeps heavy gamers engaged but the theme and game play is light enough to entertain\u00a0non-gamers.<\/p>\n The artwork on the cards is silly and fun which makes for some great conversations. \u00a0 So many times during game play you will hear laughter over the bidding of the outhouse or the cardboard box. \u00a0Do yourself a favor in your next game of For Sale and look for the animal in each property (excluding the space station).<\/p>\n The bidding mechanic isn’t anything ground breaking but still is fun. \u00a0The bidding becomes really interesting when the selling properties phase comes. \u00a0All the previously purchased properties are only worth what you can get for them in this phase. \u00a0This makes for some great laughter\u00a0and very tactical play.<\/p>\n I love this little game to no end. \u00a0It’s one of my favorite short games and will always be up for a game or two.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 36. \u00a0 \u00a0 New York 1901<\/strong><\/p>\n Designer – \u00a0\u00a0Ch\u00e9nier La Salle<\/p>\n Publisher – \u00a0 Blue Orange Games<\/p>\n Year Published – \u00a0 2015<\/p>\n Players – \u00a0 2 – 4<\/p>\n Play Time – \u00a0 45 mins<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s build historic New York City in 1901! \u00a0The name of the game here is acquiring land on the famous streets of New York and starting your building empire. \u00a0All players will be gathering land deed cards and placing workers on the corresponding color. \u00a0In Tetris fashion, players will place different shapes of buildings that fit into the lots they have acquired. \u00a0Once started you need to build bigger and better. \u00a0Scrap your old buildings and build a bigger one in its place. \u00a0The game also comes with legendary skyscrapers that anyone that knows New York will sound familiar.<\/p>\n This game ramps up very quickly with bronze level building being established first and eventually having gold level building across the map. \u00a0Its because of this progression it becomes easy for players to learn and quickly catch up to the people that know the game a little better.<\/p>\n Something strikes a very familiar cord when I bring new players in on this one. \u00a0I think its the fitting the shapes perfectly just like Tetris which I don’t think anyone think is boring. \u00a0Even if that doesn’t appeal to all players there is plenty to love here. \u00a0The scoring is great with several end game bonuses which makes every placement of your building an important decision.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 35. \u00a0 \u00a0 Tokaido<\/strong><\/p>\n Designer – \u00a0 Antoine Bauza<\/p>\n Publisher – \u00a0 Fun Forge<\/p>\n Year Published – \u00a0 2012<\/p>\n Players – \u00a0 2 – 5<\/p>\n Play Time – \u00a0 45 mins<\/p>\n In Tokaido, the players are traveling down a road with the player farthest from the final destination taking the next turn. \u00a0They then have the choice of which location they would like to stop at. \u00a0The player takes their pawn and move it to the chosen location and carry out the associated benefit with that location. \u00a0This leap frog style game play continues until all players have reached the end of the Tokaido road. \u00a0End game bonuses are added to each players journey score and victory is crowned to the player with the highest journey score.<\/p>\n Gameplay is more tactical than strategic. \u00a0This, I imagine, would upset some gamers who like a game with heavy gameplay but the light gameplay has a purpose. \u00a0The game is intended to be immersive with it’s zen like quality. \u00a0The light nature of the game is helps to cultivate this feeling without causing unnecessary stress on its players. \u00a0That isn’t to say that this\u00a0game isn’t void of any decisions. \u00a0The game finds a happy median to accommodate some of the gamers who enjoy a deeper game and the light gamer. \u00a0Essentially this game is a bit lighter than I usually play but it’s still a great comprehensive gameplay.<\/p>\n A beautiful game that has it’s purpose and does it very well. \u00a0This is definitely not a game that you will be playing often but one that you will appreciate when you do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 34. \u00a0 \u00a0 Between Two Cities<\/strong><\/p>\n Designer – \u00a0\u00a0Matthew O’Malley,\u00a0Morten Monrad Pedersen, and\u00a0Ben Rosset<\/p>\n Publisher – \u00a0\u00a0Stonemaier Games<\/p>\n Year Published – \u00a02015<\/p>\n Players – \u00a0 1 – 7<\/p>\n Play Time – \u00a0 20 mins<\/p>\n You are one of the master city planners who have been asked to design two different cities. \u00a0Each city will have two designers working together to build the best city possible. \u00a0Each player must collaborate\u00a0with the player on their\u00a0left to design a city between them, and with the player on their\u00a0right to design a\u00a0city between them.<\/p>\n Between Two Cities is a tile-drafting city building game in which each tile represents part of a city. These parts of the city include factories, shops, parks, houses, offices, and eateries. \u00a0On each turn you must select two tiles from your hand of tiles, reveal them, then work with your partners separately to place one of those tiles into each of your two cities before passing the remaining hand of tiles to the next player.<\/p>\n At the end of the game, each city is scored based off of the point criteria. Your final score is the lower score of the two cities that you helped design. The player with the higher final score wins the game.<\/p>\n Innovation is becoming increasing difficult to find. \u00a0I’m not talking about innovation of theme because there are infinite possibilities there. \u00a0The innovation I’m speaking of is in the game mechanics. \u00a0This one is refreshing in that way. \u00a0It takes a well known component like city tiles and puts a simple twist on a well known game mechanic. \u00a0Everyone knows drafting but drafting for two cities that you share with other players puts this gameplay on a new level. \u00a0The simple decision of placing a tile on a city has new consequences because you are sacrificing the needs of your alternate city. \u00a0Each player must also work with the other player sitting next to them to draft the correct tiles.<\/p>\n This makes a very delicate balance of gameplay that makes for a unique and interesting experience. \u00a0I would strongly recommend this game solely based on this interesting mechanic and scoring.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 33. \u00a0 \u00a0 7 Wonders : Duel<\/strong><\/p>\n Designers – \u00a0\u00a0Antoine Bauza, and\u00a0Bruno Cathala<\/p>\n Publisher – \u00a0\u00a0Repos Production<\/p>\n Year Published – \u00a0 2015<\/p>\n Players – \u00a0 2<\/p>\n Play Time – \u00a0 30 mins<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 7 Wonders is a wonderful game but falters in one regard; it doesn’t work well for a two player experience. \u00a0This addresses that need and streamlines the gameplay for it.<\/p>\n 7 Wonders: Duel resembles 7 Wonders as there are three ages that you will be purchasing cards. \u00a0These cards include military, scientific, civilization, and economical. \u00a0This game differs from its parent in that the drafting is done from a pyramid card structure in the center of the table with some of the cards face down and others face up. \u00a0As each player drafts a card then others may be unlocked and turned up.<\/p>\n Each player starts with four wonders that they can build, and the construction of a wonder provides its owner with a special ability. Only seven wonders can be built so one player will end up only able to build three of their four.<\/p>\n Resources can be acquired through purchase. \u00a0The purchase cost is paid to the bank and the price can be driven up by the opponent depending on how many of that resource they have.<\/p>\n There are three way that someone can win. \u00a0Either through military advancement, scientific achievement, or cultural victory. \u00a0First player to attain any of these three will be the winner.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This game has everything that I have to love from 7 Wonders but in a smaller package. \u00a0Even with the smaller package it doesn’t have less depth. \u00a0Its a great game for anyone looking for the 7 Wonders experience for two players.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 32. \u00a0 \u00a0 Star Realms<\/strong><\/p>\n Designers – \u00a0\u00a0Robert Dougherty, and\u00a0Darwin Kastle<\/p>\n Publisher – \u00a0 White Wizard Games<\/p>\n Year Published – \u00a0 2014<\/p>\n Players – \u00a0 2<\/p>\n Play Time – \u00a0 20 mins<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Star Realms is a spaceship combat deck-building game that pits two players head to head. \u00a0In Star Realms, players will be utilizing trade ships to acquire new ships, bases to help defend their authority (life), and combat ships to defeat enemy bases and decrease their authority. \u00a0When you reduce your opponent’s\u00a0authority (life) to zero, you win.<\/p>\n Players will start out with 10 starter cards which consist of 8 scout cards (trade) and 2 viper cards (combat). \u00a0On any one players turn, they will be able to play the cards from their hand of five cards and either trade or deal combat damage. \u00a0With the played trade cards they will be able to\u00a0purchase any number of the face up cards available from the Trade Row as they can afford. \u00a0 \u00a0 Players may also use the played combat cards to damage the opponent’s bases if they have acquired any through trade or to them directly. \u00a0Once all cards from a players hand is played then all played cards and purchased cards are discarded and that player draws 5 new cards from their deck. \u00a0if there isn’t enough cards to draw to 5 then they will shuffle the discard pile and add that to their deck.<\/p>\n The common deck is where everyone will be drafting their personal deck from and will contain 4 different factions that have 4 different play styles.<\/p>\n The Trade federation (blue) focuses mostly on trade and establishing authority. \u00a0This is a great faction to focus on if you are getting hammered by your opponent’s combat every round. \u00a0The Blobs (green) are obvious alien in nature by the artwork. \u00a0They are the heavy combat cards of the game so if you need to be the aggressor then this faction should be your next purchase. \u00a0The Star Empire (yellow) are what I like to call the troublesome faction. \u00a0They are also combat oriented like the Blobs but also add in some player interaction. \u00a0They provide extra cards to the player using them but also forces opponent to discard cards which adds to their annoyance. \u00a0Finally is the Machine Cult (Red) which is the deck building expert’s dream faction. \u00a0This faction has the highest number of base cards that defend you from combat but also they provide the ability to remove unwanted cards from your deck. \u00a0This can be very helpful if your find yourself being outraced to victory.<\/p>\n Deck building is one of my favorite mechanics. \u00a0It makes from some great strategic thinking and it works great in the duel experience like Magic the Gathering has all taught us. \u00a0 Star Realms does this and more with the blended drafting mechanic. \u00a0Players simultaneously building decks as they play makes for adaptive play styles to each other’s choices. \u00a0 Many other games have a play strategy that each player decides to take and follow thru until the end. \u00a0This isn’t that type of game. \u00a0This game rewards adaptive play with some wonderful experiences and fun for anyone willing to give it a try. \u00a0I strongly recommend this for anyone who likes magic or deck-building in general.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 31. \u00a0 King of New York<\/strong><\/p>\n Designer – \u00a0 Richard Garfield<\/p>\n Publisher – \u00a0 IELLO<\/p>\n Year Published – \u00a0 2014<\/p>\n Players – \u00a0 2 – 6<\/p>\n Play Time – \u00a0 40 mins<\/p>\n <\/p>\n King of New York is the spiritual successor to\u00a0King of Tokyo. \u00a0It keeps a lot of the same mechanics while introducing new ways to destroy each other and the city. \u00a0Your goal is to be the first monster to collect 20 victory points or to be the last monster standing.<\/p>\n On your turn, you roll six dice up to three times like in Yahtzee. \u00a0 Each player then carries out the actions on those dice. \u00a0Claw rolls cause damage to other monsters, heart rolls heal damage to yourself, and energy rolls acquires energy which is stored up so that you can purchase power cards. \u00a0Power cards can provide unique abilities or effects that can add you in your fight. \u00a0Fame rolls when paired in threes can get you the Super Star card which nets you extra victory points with each successive star roll. \u00a0Destruction rolls can destroy buildings in your burrow of New York and get you some bonuses. \u00a0This does not go unnoticed because every building that is destroyed will bring about a military unit to respond. \u00a0Ouch rolls will make these accumulating military units attack and do damage to one or sometimes all the monsters in New York.<\/p>\n Dice games have never been a good friend to me. \u00a0I love them to death but I’ve developed some rare disease that has no other symptoms or effects other than poor dice rolling luck. \u00a0Luckily enough for me King of New York fixed what King of Tokyo does to crumby dice rollers. \u00a0It provides options no matter what you roll. \u00a0Rarely do I ever find that I can do nothing with my rolls. \u00a0The reason for this was the point rolls that you could get in King of Tokyo were useless unless you could roll three of the same number or you had a power\u00a0that changed the rule. \u00a0This is a wasted opportunity for strategy and theme. \u00a0Thankfully in this edition of the game they were omitted and switched for the destruction, fame, and ouch rolls. \u00a0All of which added a much needed splash of narrative but more importantly added more player interaction and fun.<\/p>\n One aspect that is ramped up in King of New York that i really like is the sense of danger. \u00a0The opportunity to attack other monsters is increased and and the pace of game is increased as well. \u00a0Both of these light changes from its predecessor make the game far more tense. \u00a0Urgency to stay longer in Manhattan, attack your fellow monsters, or retreat to safer ground is all increased with these changes. \u00a0Great game for anyone looking for a dice chucking, monster brawling, building smashing Kaiju monster board game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"125e2118-4271-4cdf-95fe-8eb84d3ed937\"](\"http:\/\/traversecityboardgamers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/125e2118-4271-4cdf-95fe-8eb84d3ed937.jpg\")
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