Saturday, December 24, 2016

Boards & Brews at Home: Dimension

Even on Christmas Eve we’re releasing posts for our blog!  However, we’re keeping it light with a game we gave a micro review to last year at Gen Con in 2015.  Since that time, we decided to purchase it and we figured a more detailed closer look would be good.  We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our Mead provided by New Day Meadery in Fountain Square, along with our abundance of cheese and meat that we purchased from the Cheese Shop in Keystone.  Our bodies are filled with much happiness and it’s time to jump into a somewhat dexterity-like, abstract puzzle game for 1 - 4 players.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Have Fun Stormin' Da Castle!

For this week, we returned to The Well off of 116th St. in Fishers and partake in caffeine to assist us in building more castle walls.  We seem to be building lots of walls lately.  This will be no exception in this review either because we are playing the popular yet out of print tile-laying game, Carcassonne: The Castle.  It's always nice to play in public locations, as we generally have strangers who approach us asking about the games we are playing.  This happened with a few people today and we are always glad to see others taking an interest in tabletop gaming.  As far as the beverages, we both enjoyed the spicy snowmen which were white mochas with spicy cinnamon.  They were sweet and had a pleasant kick of spiciness to them.  Very recommended if you stop in!  While there are obvious parts of this game that overlap with the original Carcassonne, there are some differences that separate it.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Component Corner: Ep. 6 - Dice Decor

In this segment of Component Corner we discuss a couple of uses for dice beyond the table.  Whether you enjoy board games, D&D or other RP’s, a lot of gamers understand the necessity of dice and the enjoyment of it’s visual appeal.  There’s all types of dice ranging from standard to premium to polyhedral.  No matter what we’re playing or what game calls for a specific type of die, we have a little bit of everything.  Compulsive tabletop gamers like us could practically make dice collecting a hobby all by itself.  Read on to see that there’s more than one use for these colorful eye candies.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Boards & Brews at Home: Wise and Otherwise

We’re back with another at home segment to play Wise and Otherwise, a bluffing party game for 2 - 6 players.  Do you like to stretch your creative and witty thinking to bluff your way through a game?  How much do you know about old proverbs and phrases throughout history?  How good are you at deceiving others around you to believing that something sounds convincing, but is entirely false?  Are you a wise individual or just a smarty pants?  You’ll have to really prove your creativity in this one to get to the end first, so read on to see our thoughts.

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Kickstarter Review #3: Mythic Wars: Clash of the Gods

On this review we return to Books and Brews for another Kickstarter release called Mythic Wars: Clash of the Gods which can currently be found here.  We would like to thank Excalibre Games for sending us a copy of their prototype for review.  On this visit Claire had the Ace Perry Pear Cider which carried a pronounced pear flavor, sweet and tart with a dry finish, while I had the Grinch That Stole Thanksgiving which was a gingerbread spiced ale with a warm, tasty finish.  Come with us as we compete in battles of mythic proportions!

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Drink till you're wonky

No, actually drink responsibly!  Today’s review we returned to Redemption Alewerks for a very light segment to bring you a dexterity game known as Wonky.  I once again, enjoyed the Taxman Deduction, and did not have so much that it impaired my ability to stack the cubes!  This is a very unique approach to stacking objects to keep them from falling.  It’s very different from other dexterity games like Jenga, or Kewbz.  Follow us into what will most likely be one of the most straight forward games that we have reviewed to date!  

Sunday, November 13, 2016

You Gonna Build A Wall?

Yeah I know, but considering everything currently going on in politics, I had to give it that title.  In today’s segment we return to Heady Hollow to play Carcassonne: The Dice Game to build walls!  We enjoyed the Rowdy Root Beer and 60 Horses Scotch Ale to help us roll for those fortifying castle walls.  Carcassonne as a dice game?  This is a very interesting concept compared to it’s predecessor with nearly a hundred tiles and multi-colored meeples sweeping across the land.  However, we still have the same end goal, to build lots of walls!  This version is essentially a micro version of the same concept, except we’re using dice instead of tiles and this version can be played in 10 minutes.  The idea came about for a tenth anniversary edition when many gamers backed the idea for dice rolling mechanics for the original.  Follow us back into France as we continue to build cities faster than ever.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Kickstarter Review #2: Nightlancer

Hello all, today we take a look at a game currently on Kickstarter located here called Nightlancer. We would like to thank Adversity Games for sending us a prototype of their game for review. This is a competitive cyberpunk board game for 1 to 4 players. The game can be played solo, cooperatively between other players, or competitively against your opponent/s. Between a futuristic setting with a cyberpunk theme, I knew right off the bat that this is a game that I wanted to play. Follow us into a time of great tribulation and hardship to fight for hope and achieve great notoriety.

Monday, October 31, 2016

Boards & Brews at Home: Mansions of Madness

 
  Happy Halloween Everyone!  

We hope you all have had a wonderful Halloween this year!  On this night we look once again to another game of Cthulhu themed horror to review Mansions of Madness.  To assist through the adventure and mystery, we are drinking Cthulhu-ritas which we prepped ourselves complete with tentacles!  The tentacles are the shavings that we cut and shaped from our limes.  We knew since this year has seen a massive influx of Cthulhu games, it would be fun to make these type of drinks to follow the theme.  In this game of mystery and terror there are horrific monsters that lurk in the shadows of manors, crypts, and monasteries near Arkham Massachusetts. Some dispense dark conspiracies while others wait to devour their victims or drive them insane! The fate lies in the hands of brave investigators to explore these cursed places and reveal the truth of the evil within.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Boards & Brews at Home: Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu

 
The newly anticipated Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu has been out for a couple months now, and if you attended Gen Con, you had a chance to pick up a copy when it debuted. If you read our Gen Con segment from this year, you already noticed that we’ve played and reviewed this game. However, since it is the month of October and we purchased our own copy, I wanted us to bring this back again for a closer and more detailed look. Today we drank peppermint tea made by Adagio Teas. The savoring aroma of these lightly grounded, and smooth minty herbs really hit the spot as we worked together to keep the evil from coming through the portals. Do you like Pandemic? How about Cthulhu? Perhaps a game that encompasses both worlds? Come with us as we delve into the world of HP Lovecraft to save humanity!

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Chain of Ghouls

 
For this weeks segment we’re battling against vampires and lycans in order to survive the night in the grisly deck-building game known as Nightfall.  Have you ever seen 30 Days of Night, or Underworld?  This game is a collaboration of those two films.  The vampires look very similar to the ones in 30 Days of Night, and the game actually takes place over the course of a couple weeks in darkness so that’s fitting with consideration to the film.  If you’ve ever seen Underworld you know that it’s all about vampires versus werewolves which is also the case in this game.  In this deck-builder you and your opponent/s will face off to attack each other giving as many wounds to each other as possible.  Once by the end of the game, whoever has the least amount of wounds is declared the strongest player and the winner.  The howling werewolves and the shrill screaming vampires echo over the land.  Venture forward and read about this horrific deck building game of survival through the night. 

Saturday, October 8, 2016

What The Hex?

 
Today we returned to Sure Shot Coffee in Fishers to play the Smirk & Dagger card game, HEX HEX.  As a delightfully new addition to Sure Shot’s menu, there is now an option for a Peruvian pour over coffee.  It was rich, bright, and had a very smooth finish.  My vanilla iced latte was very good and I’m glad to see Sure Shot has added crushed ice to their coffee.  Steve joins us this October as a mummy and as always, enjoys being in the spot light of tabletop gaming.  HEX HEX is a fast-paced, 3 to 6 player card game, in which you are trying to place a hex on the other players around you and the object is to get the hexes away from you and put them on other people as quickly as possible. There’s a lot of little aspects to these cards, so like our other reviews, this will be summed up enough to give you the gist of the game.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Deep Slumbers In The Well

 
It's that time of the year again when we gather our games of terror and mystery to reveal their darkness for the October segments.  For this week’s review we venture to a new coffee shop in Fishers that just recently opened known as The Well. Some of their breakfast food consists of bagels, muffins, waffles, bacon, and eggs. They also serve lunch and dinner options such as turkey wraps, hummus wraps, grilled cheese, house salads, quesadillas, and much more. Claire had the 'Here It Is' latte which had a pumpkin spice flavor that she says was pleasantly spicy, but not overly sweet.  I had the carmel apple cider which carried a rich flavor of apples that overpowered the carmel a little, but still very delicious and we both highly recommend these seasonal beverages.  Their layout is open with a clean, modern decor and multiple seating options. The service and food was also very good.  We look forward to returning to The Well again!  Now, follow us into a lucid dream world where we are trying to escape from labyrinths and nightmares in this 2 player cooperative card game.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Boards & Brews at Home: Mission: Red Planet

Today we return for another home segment with big box games and numerous small components to play the first edition of Mission: Red Planet.  Since this game has a steampunk theme, we had to incorporate Dieselpunk beer.  The refreshing honey amber flavor provides a sweet, and light taste to enhance our gaming experience.  In the year 1888, steam technology has advanced to prodigious heights.  Automated probes have been sent to Mars, and transmitted their latest reports back.  These reports unequivocally reveal the planet's ground is composed of resources of immeasurable value.  The first resource known as Celerium, a new element for the periodic table, and a combustible energy to increase 1000 times the power within a single engine.  The second known as Sylvanite, is a material denser than anything found on earth.  If we can locate ice, we can use this to create an atmosphere, which would allow the planet to be colonized.  As the leader of a mining company, you must control the deposits hidden underneath the surface of the red planet in order to exploit these new resources.  Our trip to Mars cannot wait any longer.  Read on to learn how this process will unfold. 

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Ales & Vales

Today we return to Heady Hollow Brewing Company in Fishers to review the 2 - 4 player card crafting game known as Mystic Vale.  Claire enjoyed the New Day South Cider and I had my usual 60 Horses Scotch Ale, both of which we highly recommend.  Before we played Mystic Vale, we had never heard of the Card Crafting mechanic before.  This game introduced us to a whole new approach of card games.  The idea of card-in-hand modification had never entered my mind before.  Through the use of clear plastic sleeves, you can place other transparent cards within cards to stack abilities.  Even though we already reviewed this game in our Gen Con segment, we take a closer look now at how the game is laid out and executed.  Follow us into the land of Gaia as we forge our strengths to heal and restore the land.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Kona, Kona, Kona, Kona, Kona, Chameleon

Well, it’s not from Hawaii, but it is near the water since we are at Geist again to enjoy white mochas from Mama Bears Bakery & Cafe.  Today we take a look at the classic card game known as Coloretto.  In this strategic game of colors and chameleons players work to collect the largest sets of three different colors and two of the smallest before the final round is complete.  This is a very straight forward, but fun card game so come with us as we sip through the aromas and flavors of sweet mochas and allocate a multitude of multi-colored Chameleons.

Saturday, September 3, 2016

Pints & Parties

For this weeks review, we returned to the Heady Hollow Brewing Company in Fishers for another wonderful experience!  Once again, great service, respectful employees and great food and beverages.  Today we look at the newly released Sushi GO Party!  The deluxe version of Sushi GO!  Near the beginning of this blog we reviewed Sushi GO!, and the party version does add a significant amount of new cards to the game.  It’s like we said in our first review of Sushi GO, it’s like a bunch of friends having a party.  Who knew we would see that a year and a half later in the next title of their game?  Read on to see this new version.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Boards & Brews at Home: TTR: Rails & Sails

Greetings all!  Today we enjoy delectable Carmel Hazelnut tea from Adagio Teas while returning once again to one of the most iconic gateway games ever released.  Back in February of this year, we decided to review the base game of Ticket To Ride, originally released in 2004.  It’s what most people refer to as the next Monopoly.  Ticket To Ride has brought a great deal of people closer to the hobby, and the expansions have only continued to pave the road in this magnificent sought after board game of family-oriented strategy.  In today’s at home segment we review the newly released Ticket To Ride: Rails & Sails.  This game made it's debut at Gen Con this year and we are pleased to have purchased it there.  We’ve played this game several times ever since we opened it in the last couple of weeks, and it certainly has some drawbacks, but it’s also not like any other Ticket To Ride game yet.  There’s a lot going on in this game versus the previous Ticket To Ride games, so if you’re ready to ride the rails with us again, and this time, sailing across the globe then read on.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Component Corner: Ep. 5 - Chwazi Mobile App

Have you ever been in a situation, where you and one or more people were trying to decide who would go first for the board game?  How about that large number of modern tabletop games that come with creative, thematic ways to choose the first player?  Well, sometimes those are just silly, and other times just strange, so why not allow something else decide it for you?  Today on Component Corner we take a look at the FREE mobile app created by Cesar Barscevicius known as Chwazi.  We've referenced this app multiple times in our past segments, but for this segment we specifically delve into the app to show you what it's all about. 

Saturday, August 13, 2016

The Long & The Short Of It

Today we returned to Mama Bears Bakery & Cafe in Fishers to enjoy their sweet delectable beverages.  I had a white mocha, which as always was very sweet and flavorful.  Claire had the Passion and Desire green tea which carried a refreshingly crisp taste of fruit that did not overwhelm the green tea flavor, a great balance for a green tea.  How many times have you wanted to work on the farm, tending to the harvest after planting the seeds that would soon become nutritious sustenance for your lovable animals?  Well, in My Happy Farm that is exactly what we are going to do!  Read on to see more than just Steve planking on our game box.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Thoughts About Gen Con 2016

With all of the good things that Gen Con does to accommodate people, it still has some drawbacks that it could significantly improve upon with very little effort required.  This segment is not designed to cause trouble.  We have a lasting respect for the event and are more than grateful that it’s available only 20 minutes away from us.  What we are doing is addressing legitimate concerns that can easily be remedied which would significantly improve the overall experience for every person who attends Gen Con.  There are issues that do significantly impact the people who attend, and that should be discussed.  Please read on and give your thoughts regarding the post and anything else that you want to say.

Gen Con 2016

Another year of Gen Con has come and gone for us.  We've had some ups and downs this year, and for the first time, we will be splitting two separate topics and segments on a convention into two posts.  This means we have more that we can fit into our segments so to hopefully not overwhelm our readers, while still providing a plethora of short reviews.  This year a couple of events fell through for us, and we ended up demoing more games, which is great considering that 2016 has had some excellent games releasing!  This is all the more reason for us to provide an influx of games this year.  We've met some new gamers, caught up with some friends, played a lot of new games, and this year Claire and I decided to celebrate our 10 year anniversary at Gen Con!  As usual though, we will provide plenty of details to showcase our experience and some of the current hot games on the market.  After you've read over your favorite games on this segment, be sure to check out our second portion of this segment where we discuss some issues about Gen Con that really need to be addressed.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Boards & Brews at Home: Roll For The Galaxy

Today we rolled out another one of our large box games, Roll For The Galaxy.  While we were at it, we had some cinnamon spicy flavored Blue Moon ale.  The cinnamon extract really added a nice flavor and gave it a fall-time type of feel to the beverages.  As for the game, we are ready to roll to create galactic civilizations, recruit workers, settle worlds, and build developments in this 2 - 5 player game of space empires and technology. 

Sunday, July 24, 2016

The Winner of the 500 Follower Instagram Contest!

The Instagram contest is over and the winner has been drawn and contacted, congratulations @harlaquinne and thank you for participating in our 500 follower contest!  Please stay tuned for more contests in the future and be sure to become a follower on the blog as well because there will be more contests involving our blog followers too!  

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Malt and Mobsters

Today we stayed close to home and went to the Heady Hollow Brewing Company off of Allisonville Road in Fishers.  The rustic environment is complimented by a modern layout, with prohibition decor along the back walls.  This is a very clean and well managed facility with friendly staff that delivered great customer service!  Claire had the Rowdy Root Beer which was a hard root beer with a refreshing sweet taste.  I had the 60 Horses Scotch Ale which carried a deep copper color with it’s signature malt shining through; providing a strong and sweet melding of toffee and roast.  They also serve sandwiches and an excellent selection of starters as well.  We loved the variety of drinks and appetizers that they had to offer, the enviornment was also very relaxed for a Saturday afternoon which we really enjoyed.  We loved our experience to the Heady Hollow Brewing Company and both of us look forward to returning again!  For this week’s segment we review Speakeasy, the two player strategy game from the prohibition era.  Read on to learn more.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Light Roast

Today we returned to Mama Bear’s Bakery & Cafe to drink white mochas and play Lanterns: The Harvest Festival.  While they may not always keep their menu up to date, their coffee always delivers a sweet and rich flavor unlike any other coffee shop in the area.  In this 2 - 4 player tile-placement game, players will act as artisans decorating the palace lake with floating lanterns.  The player who earns the most honor before the festival begins is the winner.  Lanterns has really earned its spark among the tabletop gaming community so read on to see our thoughts.

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Another Giveaway Contest!

Greetings all faithful readers!  We've just reached 500 followers on Instagram.  If you are not following us on Instagram we wanted to take a brief moment to inform you we are doing an instagram giveaway contest for one of the biggest games of the year, Codenames!  This contest is within the US only unless you are going to be attending GenCon which in that case we can give you the game in person.  It'll go on for the next two weeks until the 24th at noon.  It's really easy, and can be done in no time at all.  All you have to do is: 
1) Be a follower
2) Comment your favorite game
3) Repost and Tag us.  
That's it!  Just head over to our Instagram page and follow these three requirements if you haven't already done so and best of luck!  

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Component Corner: Ep. 4 - TableTopAudio.com

Welcome to the 4th installment of Component Corner.  Like many tabletop gamers, we are big fans of theme and we love integrating a game’s theme as thoroughly as possible when we play.  If you’ve been one of our regular readers on this blog, you know from past segments that we are avid users of TabletopAudio.com. Be it our beverages, upgraded resources or the location we are playing, it’s just fun to make gaming a multi-sensory experience.  However, since we are not able to pop over to a haunted dungeon or transport ourselves to Middle-earth, what are we to do?  Head over to TabletopAudio.com!  Tabletop Audio is a free site focused on enhancing your gaming experience with sound.  Read on to see how we use this terrific resource for at home gaming!

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Boards & Brews at Home: The Lord Of The Rings (LCG)

In this week’s segment we return home to play an intense hour and a half of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, or LCG (Living Card Game).  For our drinking pleasure, I had local Sun King Brewery’s Sunlight Cream Ale, and Claire had the Ace Pineapple hard cider.  In this 1 - 2 player living card game, players will work together cooperatively to eliminate encounter cards that consist of dangerous locations, events, enemies, and treacherous action cards in order to fulfill their sequence cards to win the game.  There is a lot going on in this game, and like our other reviews, we will provide the most important details, while trying to sum up as much as we can in a decent amount of time.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Cold Brew Confrontation

Today we visited a new location in Indy called Porter Books & Bread to play Lord Of The Rings, The Confrontation.  The location offered up an early 20th century decor with a delightful modern touch of lighting and art.  The building was actually an army barracks from the early 1900’s.  The military base that it sat on was decommissioned in 1991, and in 1995 the US department of the interior gave it to the Indiana DNR (Department of Natural Resources) to use as a state park.  Now, we get to enjoy it’s rugged history with coffee, books and board games.  The employees of the facility were kind, very attentive, and the food and drinks were wonderful!  Claire had the Crossroads Cold Brew, and I had the Sure Shot Nitro Cold Brew, both of which we highly recommend!  We absolutely loved our experience and will be returning again!

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Origins 2016

This year Claire and I attended Origins for the first time as press members.  Last year Origins had a unique attendance of 15,938 and with the vastly increasing popularity of tabletop games, I would anticipate it was a significant and successful increase for the convention at Columbus Ohio.  We had a chance to meet up with multiple venders, play some new games, and surprisingly run into some personal friends of ours from our hometown of Fishers Indiana!  Read on to learn about our awesome weekend!

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

In this weeks segment, we visited a new coffee shop for the blog known as Quills Coffee located in downtown Indianapolis off of West 9th St.  For those of you who are coming out to Gen Con again this year, it’s only 1.5 miles away from the convention center so if you’re wanting some great coffee, it’s either a 5 minute drive or a 20 minute walk away.  It has a clean, open, and modern interior with a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.  I purchased the Vanilla Bourbon Iced Latte which carried a pleasantly balanced, semi-sweet flavor of vanilla and coffee fused together.  Claire had the Blacksmith Cream Soda which was nicely acidic, yet creamy and refreshing.  Both of which were perfect for a 90’ degree day.  We were very pleased with our overall experience and look forward to coming back again.  Today we played the 2 - 5 player set-collection, bluffing, take that, card game known as Scoundrel Society made by Action Phase Games.  Read on to learn more.

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Boards & Brews at Home: Marvel Legendary

For today’s at home segment, we find ourselves playing the ever popular Marvel Legendary while drinking our favorite adult beverage, Man o’ War.  For those that are unaware of this drink, it contains bourbon, cointreau, sweet vermouth, and lemon juice.  We used Crown Royal Reserve in place of the bourbon, and typically use lime juice in place of the lemon, but either way, it makes for a powerful, citrusy cocktail that ended up being very fitting for this weeks game.  This 1 - 5 player, cooperative deck-building game is one of the greats, so read on to learn more.

Sunday, May 29, 2016

For Sale By Owner

One man’s castle is another man’s doghouse, or perhaps an RV, tent, or skyscraper.  Today we return to Mama Bear’s Bakery & Cafe in Fishers to play the property management game known as For Sale.  For Sale is a fast-paced bidding & bluffing card game for 3 - 6 players that can be played in 20 - 30 minutes.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Makerbot Replicator 2 3D Printing a Meeple

Hey readers this is obviously not a review but a video that I just uploaded to youtube and thought everyone who likes technology and meeples would enjoy it.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

They See Me Rollin'

For today’s segment we returned to Sure Shot Coffee to play the casual, family-friendly deluxe version of Roll For It!  In this 2 - 8 player dice-rolling, push-your-luck, hand-management game, players are continually rolling their dice to see who can match and score the cards that will ultimately get them the most points to win the game.  Whoever reaches 40 points or more first, is the winner!  Read on to learn more.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Component Corner: Ep. 3 - Player Mats

This week's review looks at another component for your tabletop games, not required but desirable and adds to the experience for every gamer present.  Player mats come in two different forms.  They can be used as direct placement for specific game pieces, cards, or just a place to rest your hands and add a more artistic atmosphere to the gaming environment.  Read on to learn about how player mats can enhance your gaming environment in more ways than one. 

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Boards & Brews at Home: Wits & Wagers

Today we're back for a more relaxed home segment to play the classic 3 - 7 player party game, Wits & Wagers.  This is a trivia and bidding game.  Not a trivia buff you say?  No problem!  Wits & Wagers doesn't create the high-pressured environment that other trivia games do.  If you've never played Wits & Wagers, you should read on, because this party game is a lot more fun, engaging, and strategic than you think. 

Saturday, April 30, 2016

International TableTop Day 2016

Greetings and happy International Tabletop Day once again!  Last year we found ourselves at Redemption AleWerks in Fishers and we figured, why mess with a good thing?  So we are back and enjoying what may be the beginning of a promising tradition.  Today we are drinking Taxman's Cherry Picker and Gnarly Grove's Legendberry.  One of the things we enjoy about Redemption is that they are happy to let you sample a few of the brews they have on tap prior to ordering. Cherry Picker is infused with tart and sweet cherries, the fruit flavor is not overpowering, but a nice complement to the malty richness of this Belgian dubbel. Gnarly Grove "Legendberry" cider had a subtle combination of blueberry, blackberry and raspberry juices with a nice acidic bite.  Our game of choice today is Ninja Camp so read on to learn about this small box game with a kick!