Last year, as part of my Halloween-themed columns, I discussed Fury of Dracula, a cat-and-mouse deduction game that featured four heroes chasing the elusive vampire across Europe in a race against time. While I enjoy Fury when I have the chance (and time) to play it, the combat mechanics and certain event cards occasionally detract from the experience and cause the game to run much longer than necessary. Letters from Whitechapel (published in the US by Nexus) takes the same hidden-movement concept of Fury and streamlines it, allowing for quicker — and more strategic — play. READ MORE
A popular activity among large groups is the logical identity deduction game Werewolf (sometimes called Mafia or any number of other names). In these games, each player is randomly assigned a secret role by a neutral judge (who runs the game and keeps everyone honest), and the non-evil players must determine via public discussion which of their companions are responsible for the nightly killings and “lynch” one of them via popular vote, at which point the dead player’s true identity is revealed. Then there is a “night” period during which the evil players retaliate, and the cycle resumes until one side is dead. READ MORE
The majority of the games that I cover here — indeed, nearly all of them — are intended for the dedicated board gamer. There are usually a lot of rules, varying paths to victory, and plenty of strategic options; everything else is “just a filler” or perhaps “a party game”. They come from publishing companies unfamiliar to anyone not already invested in the hobby, and tend to only be found at specialized retailers. But sometimes a game from a more “mainstream,” traditionally toy-making company catches our attention and provides some throwback enjoyment. While often these are just spin-offs of older, established brands (such as Sorry! Sliders, Yahtzee Free-For-All or any number of variants on Risk), sometimes a genuinely unique title will emerge. Stomple, from Spin Master, is one such new arrival. READ MORE
Just when I think I have covered more than my fair share of dice-based games, Wizkids (makers of Heroclix and similar miniature-based games) unleashes Quarriors!, the unlikely Venn diagram overlap between dice games and deck-building games. Quarriors! (yes, the exclamation mark is part of the title) allows two to four players to each start off with eight basic Quiddity dice, four Assistant dice, and a sack to hold them. READ MORE
Philippe Keyaerts’s Small World was my favorite new game of 2009, with streamlined territorial conquest mechanics and a great mix-and-match fantasy theme. After a few expansions, Days of Wonder has released a new version of the game, Small World: Underground. Taking place in the dark subterranean realm beneath the normal Small World, Underground features the all-new races and powers that a fan of the original game might expect, as well as a couple of new twists. READ MORE
