Sunday, May 31, 2015

Summon Me Some Coffee!

On this segment of Boards & Brews we returned to Noble Coffee & Tea to play Summoner Wars.  Essentially, Summoner Wars is Dungeons & Dragons meets Chess.  There are a number of mechanics that are different, but there are also multiple methods and approaches that are similar during gameplay.  The end goal of the game is to destroy the other opponents summoner.  There are six phases per turn, and during these phases the players will draw cards, summon more units, play event cards, move their factions to the desired locations on the board, attack, and then build up their magic piles for the next round.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

The Evil Wizard Took My Beer!!

On this segment we return to Books & Brews to review a fast-paced, light strategy, two player game known as Dragonheart.  The premise of this game is that an evil wizard has placed the great dragon, the protector of the realm, into a petrified slumber, and it's fiery breath locked away in a ruby jewel known as the Dragonheart.  With the land's guardian imprisoned, trolls and fire dragons run amuck, barely held in check by brave knights and canny huntresses.  Two different roles are taken on by both players.  You can either be a disciple of the great dragon, and focus your skills on freeing him, or as a minion of the evil wizard, you can see to it that the dragon sleeps forever.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Say Anything (Not the 80's Flick)

Today we took a break from our usual strategic segments to play a party game. Everyone who lived and was conscious during the 80's, probably knows about the classic John Cusack film, Say Anything.  This post will not be about that awesome film!  Today we visited Books and Brews off of 96th St.  Books and Brews specializes in craft beers, appetizers, sandwiches, and their own bookstore!  I was proud to see they also have a working original NES from 1985 for retro video game nights.  Their staff were conscientious, respectful and we really enjoyed coming in to play board games!

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Boards & Brews at Home: Dominion

This is the first segment we are doing at home.  The idea behind doing this is that it's easier to play and review big box games from home.  Typically we play smaller games in public places for the convenience and security of limited components.  However, the segments at home will allow us to demonstrate our larger games for the blog.  For this first segment at home we're playing the deck-building game that started it all known as Dominion.  

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Libraries, Gold, and Coffee

This week with boards & brews, we returned to Noble Coffee & Tea to build our libraries with the most books possible.  Biblios is Greek for book.  The premise of this game is that you are abbots in a monastery during the medieval era collecting various books, manuscripts, scrolls and supplies to create the greatest library in all of Europe.  The game has two phases, the gift phase and the auction phase.  During the gift phase, we go around the table and every player allocates a set of cards from the draw pile depending on the number of players in the game.