Boards & Brews at Home: XCOM The Board Game

For this home segment we are reviewing the 1 to 4 player real-time co-op game, XCOM: The Board Game.  Neither Claire nor I have played the video game version of this, so our first and only exposure has been the board game.  To keep the theme of the game going, we had two Alien Brain Hemorrhage shots.  They consist of 3/4 Oz of Peach Schnapps, 1/4 Oz of Irish Cream, 1 dash of Blue Curacao, and 1 dash of Grenadine. We tossed them back, and neither of us liked them.  We agreed that they tasted like creamy cough syrup mixed with Alcohol.  Definitely not the finest shots we’ve had, but they were fun to try at least one time.  For those of you that are unaware, the XCOM app on the iPad is essential and the board game cannot be played with out it.  The app can be downloaded for free on any smart phone or tablet.  The world is needing saved once more, so the fate of mankind rests on your shoulders.  However, this time it’s not from viral outbreaks and world-wide disease epidemics, it’s an alien invasion to end all humanity.  See if we save the world or if life as we know it is toast.

Top 10 Expansions We Own: #2

It’s the game that I describe as D&D meets Dominion.  Well, now with the Numenera universe combined, there’s more RPG aspects than ever mixed into Thunderstone.  Coming in on our #2 spot is Thunderstone Advance: Numenera.  Anyone who plays Thunderstone knows that even though there are standalone versions, nearly every version released is interwoven in such a way that you can utilize the cards with each release of the game.  Thunderstone Numenera follows this same concept.  It is a standalone game, but it is also an expansion.  As far as the Thunderstone series goes, this is a very different approach in a way that no other Thunderstone game has been implemented.  Like all of it’s predecessors, it still maintains a fantasy theme, but now with the implementation of the Numenera universe, we’re combining a lot more science fiction and technology into Thunderstone.

Top 10 Expansions We Own: #10

Greetings all faithful readers and tabletop enthusiasts!  For the next 10 weeks we will be doing our top 10 Expansions that we own!  This list in no way reflects our opinions of the greatest expansions ever released, only the expansions we have purchased.  Since we only review games that we own, we will therefore only review the best expansions that we own as well.  Our number 10 is Machi Koro: Millionaires Row.  While the base game of Machi Koro is a good game, it needed more variety and one specific, vital change in order to fix a broken mechanic.  Read on to see why.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

Boards & Brews at Home: Euphoria

Today we have found ourselves in a dystopian cityscape to make our mark on the world.  Like most people in the dystopian future, the workers are oblivious to their situation.  Good thing we have some alcoholic root beer!  Today we're integrating some more theme by drinking the Row Hard Root Beer by the Weston Brewing Company.  This is a thick, herbed, frothy, spiced beer with a sweet aroma and burst of root beer.  We need to keep our bliss up, and this drink will help with that along with it's appearance meshing well with the theme of this game.  Euphoria is a 2 - 6 player worker-placement, dice-rolling, resource management, set-collection game that follows the science fiction / dystopian future setting. 

Boards & Brews at Home: Darkest Night

Tonight we bring you another at home segment to review Darkest Night, a fully cooperative, dice-rolling, Euro game for 1 to 4 players.  The game takes place in a kingdom that has been overtaken by a Necromancer.  The players will take on a role as the kingdoms last heroes, each with their own unique set of special abilities.  As the ravenous undead roam the realm, the Necromancer continues to control the kingdom and all surrounding areas within it's dark power and presence.  Read on to learn about this great co-op game and if we have what it takes to restore the kingdom to it's original tranquil state.

It's a Frap!

In this segment we returned to Sure Shot Coffee for delectable iced mochas and americano's to explore multiple galaxies and colonize planets in Tiny Epic Galaxies.  Through our discoveries we will find resources, score points and gain abilities as we expand our colonizations.  Follow us in this 1 to 5 player journey of dice rolling, area control, resource management, and movement programming to see how great things can come in small packages! 

Boards & Brews at Home: Stone Age

On this segment we return to the tribal days of great trials and tribulations through survival to play Stone Age.  In this 2 - 4 player worker-placement game of strategy and dice rolling, you are trying to grow your tribe to be as sustainable and efficient as possible.  Ultimately this will reward you with more points as you progress throughout the game and whoever scores the most points by the end of the game, is the winner.  Join us as we gather what resources we can manage, hunt for food in the fields, and evolve our tribes the best that we can in order to survive the Stone Age.

Boards & Brews at Home: Betrayal at House on the Hill

 
  Happy Halloween Everyone!  

Light your candles, grab your crucifix, and stay close together because tonight, four brave souls will be lurking in the dark, dank hallways of a haunted mansion.  The floorboards are creaking and groaning under their feet, the light is swallowed by the dampened, dark corners of each room and the cold chill from the breath of the wind seeps through the cracks of the decrepit walls within this evil edifice.  Which one of us will turn against the others?  Will we survive the horrors within, or will the pain and suffering of the dark entities swallow us up? 

Boards & Brews at Home: D&D Castle Ravenloft

  Welcome to the October segments!  

Claire and I are big Halloween enthusiasts, and the segments for October will definitely be fun for us!  Steve is even in the Halloween spirit and has decided to dress up as well!  We're kicking off the October segments by providing you another home segment to play Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft.  As we've mentioned in the past, our monthly at home segments are designed for our big box games with lots of components.  Well, today is probably one of the best examples of these segments, because there is a lot inside of this box.  Venture further and read more.

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.