Review

On the Tenth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me…

manaiaclemim Published Games, Twelve Games of Christmas - 2013, Yahzee , , , , , , , , , , , ,

…A Ten-Player Game To Which I Responded “When Are We Ever Going to Play This!?” – Yahzee…leaping

Ten Yahtzee's Leaping
Ten Yahtzee’s Leaping

The Rules:

Yahtzee! The first ever dice game to appear on this blog! (Don’t worry dice lovers we have a whole month set aside for them next year). Yahtzee in some respects could be considered the poker of dice. Each player roles five dice three times each with the aim of scoring in a particular way e.g. getting three dice on the same number = 3 of a kind (similar to poker). The scores are recorded on a score card and this goes on until one player scores zero on all three of their roles then the scores are tallied up and the winner is decided.

For Christmas?

Now if you have a big family (like we do) and will have ten or more people in your house on Christmas Day then this is a good game to play because you can play with up to ten players. However if your Aunt Jean, like our Aunt Jean, gets confused and angered by dice then perhaps this is a steer clear as the whole game revolves around them. She maintains there’s no logic to chance and all chance should be avoided…”That’s how a real British man does it” (her words not mine).

Anyway, on that note, A Very Happy Tenth Day of Christmas! It may almost be over but that’s no excuse to stop eating everything in sight!

On the Ninth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me…

manaiaclemim Nine Men's Morris, Published Games, Twelve Games of Christmas - 2013 , , , , , ,

… A Nine-Men’s Game, Apparently From Some Bloke Called Morris… – Nine Men’s Morris!

Nine Ladies (Morris) Dancing
Nine Ladies (Morris) Dancing

The Rules:

Nine Men’s Morris, is a very quick, easy to learn game. You play on a square board with three squares drawn on it, a big, a medium and a little one, all inside each other. These are connected by horizontal or vertical lines in the centre of each side. Each player starts with 12 pieces in either black or white and the objective is to make a line, either horizontally or vertically (but not diagonally), of three, called a mill. Once a player has created a mill, they can remove one of their opponents pieces from the board. Play continues in this manner until one player has less than three pieces left. It’s so simple that even Aunt Jean could learn it, although you may run into some trouble explaining why the three-in-a-row are called mills…
Each player takes it in turns to place a piece on the board, either on one of the points in the middle of the side where the squares are connected, or on a corner of one of the squares. Then you move one piece one space per turn to try and make your lines of three. Easy, right? If you wish for any more info about this game, go to our previously published post, here!

For Christmas?

Definitely! It’s quick, fun, clever, and can be taught to people of all ages! (With the possible exception of children under the age of about 5 or 6, we wouldn’t want them eating the pieces, now would we?) This game probably takes about 5 minutes to play, so you could even set up some kind of tournament with all the relatives that visit you around Christmas time.

Happy ninth day of Christmas!!

On the Eighth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me…

manaiaclemim Published Games, Taboo, Twelve Games of Christmas - 2013 , , , , , , , , , , ,

…A Eight-Player Game and I Flatly Refused to Let Any More Couples Into Our House – Taboo

Eight Taboos a-Milking
Eight Taboos a-Milking

The Rules:

Taboo is a very simple game, up to eight people can play, and you play on teams of two. The objective of the game is score more points than every other team by guessing words on cards that are flipped up every turn. On each card is a title word, and another list of words associated with it. One player on the team must try and describe the word to their team mate without saying the word or any of the words on the list. Points are scored every time you correctly guess a word. There is a pad of paper used to keep score, and a timer used to make sure the length of time for each turn is the same. One team is chosen to play first and the team opposite them takes responsibility on marking their points and watching the timer. After a predetermined number of rounds (or when you run out of cards, your choice) the game ends, and the team with the most points wins.

For Christmas?

Definitely! This a fantastic game to play with family or friends, especially if there’s someone around that you’re very close with and can say the strangest things to to describe a word. On that note, I wouldn’t, under any circumstances invite Aunt Jean to play this game with you. Chances are, she’ll misunderstand everything from the simple objective of the game, to how you’ve chosen to record points, and she’ll probably shout out random words in an endeavour to contribute whilst everyone else relocates the game to a different room. However, this game is a solid investment for any game-lover the cause of many a hilarious evening.

Happy Eighth Day of Christmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

On the Seventh Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me…

manaiaclemim Java, Published Games, Twelve Games of Christmas - 2013 , , , , , , , , ,

…A Seven-Man Game and I Began to Think She Was Insane! – Java…Not a Seven Player Game!

Seven Javas a-Swimming!
Seven Javas a-Swimming!

The Rules:

Java is a tactical game with very little luck involved! Which make me like it a lot as games which no matter how good you are at them you can still be beaten by a bad throw of the dice annoy me (yes I realize this is a high percentage of games). However it is NOT a seven player game unfortunately. We’re running thin on the ground for games that are higher than six players so from now on not many of the games we do will be the right number of players but they should still be entertaining games that we recommend. Java was part of the very first post we ever posted on this site so it seemed fit that it should get a mention. To read the first post we ever posted and about Java in detail click HERE!

For Christmas?

Why not? Its fun, and anyone who loses at it only has themselves to blame, not a poor hand of cards or a dodgy set of dice. It’s up to four players so can be played in a nice small group! However it being the colonizing of a small island it may set Aunt Jean off about the power and supremacy of the British Empire, so if you want the keep the potentially racists old ladies at bay it may be better to give it a miss?

Happy Seventh Day of Christmas and Happy New Years Eve! I hope you are keeping the spirit…by spirit I do not mean Vodka!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me…

manaiaclemim Outrage!, Published Games, Twelve Games of Christmas - 2013 , , , , , , , , , , ,

…A Six-Player Game and Asked How I’d Like to TRIPLE Date! – Six Crown Jewels a-Stealing – Outrage!

Six Geese a-Laying...Outrage
Six Geese a-Laying…Outrage

 

The Rules:

Outrage! Is a great game in which you play as a criminal bent on stealing the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. However there are other players trying to do the same thing and trying to stop you doing it first! See out full article on this game Here!

For Christmas?

Most probably! There must have been at least one Christmas when we played this game! It’s a fun game but can lead to some hostility between people. If you don’t want to upset Aunt Jean because she can’t understand that the Jewels aren’t real and that no one is threatening to undermine the power of the (non-existant) British empire by taking them, it might be safer to give it a miss.

So here we are… Half way through the Christmas period, already the shopping centers have taken down most of their festive things, and everyone has gone back to their normal routine or is just anticipating getting really drunk on New Years Eve… Speaking of getting drunk on New Year, check out our New Years post on a couple of fun Drinking Games right HERE!

Happy Sixth day of Christmas!

On the Fifth Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me…

manaiaclemim Published Games, Twelve Games of Christmas - 2013 , , , , , , , ,

…A Five-Player  Game To Play With His Parents and Sister. – Five Gold Pirateologys

Five Gold Pirateologys
Five Gold Pirateologys

The Rules:

Pirateology, the long and the short of it (and it’s pretty long game, as they go) is that it’s a last-man-standing game. Literally. At the end of the game, the last pirate left on the board wins. So, with a nice, clear win-objective, how complex could this game be? Well, actually, it’s got lots of bits, gold coins and Skull Cards and such, but once you’ve played it once, you’ll probably have grasped all the important factors to the game. You start the game with just a pirate piece (and can only roll one die to move), and you have to journey to get a Crew Card before you can exchange it for a ship, which moves much more speedily (with two die). There is also a Compass Spinner which is used to determine the direction in which you’re sailing. Now that this has been established, there’s a pretty simple following to the rest of the game, you can find treasure, bury treasure, battle other pirates, face sea monsters and sail through hurricanes, all in aid of being the toughest pirate sailing the seven seas!
To remove other players from the board, all you have to do is battle them to the point where you’ve taken all their treasure, they’re then eliminated from play. Easy, right?

For Christmas?

The game itself is brilliant, but it can be quite lengthy, so I wouldn’t invite Aunt Jean to play unless you’re at your wits end for ways to get her to fall asleep, since she probably doesn’t have the attention span required for this game. It’s a good family game, for 2-5 players, that teaches strategy and patience (good for educating children) and has lots of epic-looking little figures and coins and stuff to fiddle with. I would recommend this game to play on Christmas, but only if you don’t have anywhere important to be anytime soon…

This post hasn’t been linked to a full post about the game because we haven’t written one yet, however, there is a plan for one to go up later this year!

Happy Fifth Day of Christmas! May you receive five beautiful gold somethings 🙂

On The Fourth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Gave To Me…

manaiaclemim Buccaneer, Published Games, Twelve Games of Christmas - 2013 , , , , , , , ,

… A Four Player Game, And The Suggestion That We Double Date – Four Calling Buccaneers

Four Calling Buccaneers
Four Calling Buccaneers

The Rules:

Buccaneer is a pretty straightforward game, in which you sail around the ocean as a pirate; trading with ports and fighting (or running away from) other pirates to collect treasure. The aim is to get treasure worth 20 points in your home port to win the game. You can also choose to sail to an island in the middle of the board and take cards which can be anything from an errand, to a disaster or letting you have free treasure. It’s a very exciting game, if you desire to read more about it, go here, and read our exciting post on the game!

For Christmas?

A great game to play with friends or family, with very clear rules and a simple objective. So simple in fact, that you could give Aunt Jean a copy and it wouldn’t matter that she lives alone because she could probably teach her favorite dogs to play on teams against her. Or at the very least, trying would keep her off the streets and stop her terrorizing the neighborhood. It’s a very light-hearted game, good for laughs and great for small gatherings.

Happy Fourth Day of Christmas! If you get bored in the days to come, have a pirate-impression contents with your friend or family, laughter guaranteed!

On the Third Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me…

manaiaclemim Published Games, Scotland Yard, Twelve Games of Christmas - 2013 , , , , , , ,

…A Triple-Player Game and Introduced Me To Her Best “Friend” Steve. – Three French Scotland Yards

Three French Scotland Yards
Three French Scotland Yards

The Rules:

Scotland Yard is a game about catching a criminal! While (like most board games) its not a very accurate representation of this it is good fun. I won’t go in to the rules in detail as you can view our previous post on the game for more details here.

For Christmas?

Not strictly a three player game (its a minimum of three players and a maximum of 6) it can be played by a fairly large group which makes it ideal for gatherings. Additionally the rules are quite simple and to the point so Aunt Jean may be able to pay attention to them long enough to grasp them and stop complaining about her cleaning lady who she swears is stealing from her, which is completely plausible apart from the fact that she doesn’t have a cleaning lady!

Happy Third Day of Christmas! I hope your true love did get you three French somethings!

On The Second Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave To Me…

manaiaclemim Polarity, Published Games, Twelve Games of Christmas - 2013 , , , , ,

…A Two-player Game and Promised The Evening To Me – Two Polarity Doves

Two Polarity Doves...not world class photoshopping
Two Polarity Doves…not world class photo-shopping

The Rules:

The aim of Polarity is difficult to describe, it involves magnets (hence the name) and some skill, patience and a steady hand. However rather than going into it in great detail here I will simple link you to the very detailed post my sister has done on it (on this very blog  and only two days before this post) that’s very informative and right here!

For Christmas?

I personally would consider this a great game for Christmas, one to bust out and show the relatives as something a bit different from the average board game and something I’m sure everyone will want ago at. It might even stop Aunt Jean from recounting the endless tales of here youth to you as she infers how lucky your generation are and how things weren’t this easy back in her day! However she may consider the balancing magnets as witchcraft declare you all heathens and start shouting “The power of Christ compels you”. But hey whats Christmas without a slight mental break down by someone.

You may consider this a cop-out as we have already posted about Polarity, well then just to warn you a few of the posts will be things we have already done posts on and the others will be ones we are doing full post on very soon and we are not chickening out we are simply highlighting good games we think you should all play regardless of weather we have posted about them yet or not!

Happy Boxing Day!

On the First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave To Me…

manaiaclemim Published Games, Solitaire, Twelve Games of Christmas - 2013 , , , , , , , , , , ,

…A Single Player Game and a Card Saying “Sorry!” – Solitaire…in a Pear Tree

The natural environment for any singel player game!
The natural environment for any single player game!

The Rules:

The Aim of Solitaire is to have one piece left in the middle of the board, after removing all of the other pieces by taking them. Taking is accomplished by jumping over other pieces in a Draughts (Checkers) type fashion. Unlike Checkers, jumping my only be done horizontally and vertically and you may only move to take, so, once all taking options have run out, the game is over, and unless you are left with one piece in the middle slot you have lost!

For Christmas?

Well this game could be good on Christmas if you’re alone or just want a few moments to yourself amidst the hubbub, chaos, and potentially drunk distant relatives. The game only takes a moment to understand, but it’s quite hard to get the hang of, however, once you’ve figured out one win strategy, you can win every time, so pros and cons. You may be called anti-social if you’re caught playing it on Christmas Day when Aunt Jean has just turned up and she only gets to see you once a year and wonders why you’d rather play with little wooden pieces than hear about her 13 dogs and a guinea pig… I appear to have digressed.

So on that note this is the first of twelve posts going up over (you’ll never guess it), the next twelve days which will touch briefly on twelve different games we suggest that everyone should play in 2014, the aim originally was to have them go up in player amount according to the day but we don’t have games to cover every player amount, so really they’re just be games we suggest you should play! See the Twelve Games of Christmas – 2013 page for the full list (will only be complete after the Twelve Days).

For further information on good one player games see this list!

Have a very Merry Christmas!