Bonus Round

Chicago's first board game cafe committed to inclusivity and bringing gaming to the masses. There's a game for you, and we'll help you find it! Opening by Spring 2016

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Science and cats, what could go wrong!?!

Unfortunately in this world we live in it might not always be convenient to play a five hour game of Arkham Horror. Whether you're looking for something to play in between other games, while you're waiting for more to arrive or even just something to rope your non-gamer friends into it is nice to have a few quick play games handy. That's where this week's game profile comes in, Schrodinger's Cats (Kickstarted in 2015 by 9th Level Games)  is a fast-paced deduction game that anyone can enjoy.

Thematics

Erwin Schrodinger was an extremely accomplished noble prize winning physicist who among many other things has a thought experiment attributed to his name. Schrodinger's cat (the thought experiment) involves a cat that is trapped inside of a closed box which also contains a vial of poison. At some arbitrary point in time the vial will break and poison the cat, killing it. However, as outside  observers we have no idea whether the cat is alive or dead unless we open the box. The thought experiment claims that the cat is simultaneously both alive and dead up until the moment the box is opened.

Surely my understanding of quantum physics is severely lacking and I have in some way butchered the works of Mr. Schrodinger. Luckily Schrodinger's Cats (the game) puts me firmly on comfortable ground. The players are cat-physicists performing experiments, guessing and bluffing what the contents of various boxes may be.

Gameplay

Schrodinger's Cats bears many similarity to pub games like Liar's Dice or Skulls & Roses. Each player secretly has a number of cards which can be either Dead Cats, Alive Cats, Empty Boxes or The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (wild card). Additionally each player receives a cat physicist card that will give them a unique one time use ability. Players take turns one-upping each other hypothesizing about the distribution of cards at the table until at some point someone is called out on their bluff and the truth is revealed.

What sets Schrodinger's Cats apart is that players are able to optionally reveal some of their cards in order to lend credibility to their claims. By doing so they are also given the opportunity to exchange some of their remaining cards with the ones still in the deck. This creates an interesting twist to a pretty classic style of game.

Final Thoughts

Schrodinger's Cats aims to keep itself simple while remaining fun and it definitely accomplishes this well. The art keeps the game very approachable and I've gotta say that the theme is pretty darn clever! That said, without adding any variant rules, the game does involve a layer of player elimination. One player will always be eliminated fairly early on and must wait while the game continues. Luckily as players are eliminated the game will accelerate towards its conclusion. Additionally the game lends itself well to coming up with house rules and some of the player elimination issues can be alleviated in fairly interesting ways. Despite the player elimination element the game isn't very cutthroat so it is very easy to play another quick round after the first has ended.

We have definitely enjoyed playing Schrodinger's Cats and if it sounds interesting to you I highly recommend picking it up. The game works perfectly as a small box game and lends itself well to just about any social setting.

#of players: 2-6 (best with 4 or 5) playtime: ~20 minutes Bonus points for: Clever cat-physicist names... Albert Felinestein would like to have a word with you!

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Sorry for the radio silence, been busy doing a lot of stuff behind the scenes and we're not quite ready to talk about. But how's this for a little teaser? 😊

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It hasn't been too snowy in Chicago, but that hasn't stopped us from playing Snow Tails! What have you been playing lately? Any favorite racing games?

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Don't tell anyone else this, but I'm a sucker for trashy reality television & there was definitely a point a few years back where I wound up binge watching Storage Wars. Maybe it was because I had been working at a record store at the time and always found it hilarious that on the show they would claim that obviously worthless junk actually had some sort of value. There was no way that those records weren't moldy!

Vault Wars by Floodgate Games was one of my favorite games of last year and it captures the haggling, auctioning and guessing in the television show so well. In Vault Wars the players act as novice adventurers who need some loot in order to jump start their career. Coincidentally there are a bunch of vaults whose owners have gone delinquent on their payments. Maybe the past owners were eaten by a dragon or maybe they just settled down and gave up on the life of peril and intrigue. Their vaults of treasure are about to be auctioned off and that's where you come in!

The vaults each contain various numbers of items, represented by a deck of cards, which range from the completely worthless “Junk” to invaluable gems or armor. The contents of each individual vault go up for auction and players need to pay storage fees between rounds on anything they decide to keep. What makes Vault Wars great is that each vault has its own special rules and usually some players will have more information about what might be inside than others.

The auctioning and bidding mechanisms fit perfectly with the theme of the game. Additionally it is extremely easy to teach and at this point I practically have it down to a science when it comes to introducing it to new players. The game plays with 3-5 players but I feel like it really shines when played with 4.  Much of the fun comes down to figuring out who might know more about the contents and whether they're trying to bluff that the vault is valuable or not. Because of this, typically more experienced players will have an advantage over those who've never played but it isn't to the point where it takes away from the game. So far I've had this game work for just about any audience and I highly recommend checking it out!

Bonus points for: Having a magnetic clasp on its box!

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What underrepresented themes would you like to see used in board games more?

Do you know of any games coming out this year that use it? What is your favorite game with that theme?

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You, yes you are the head of a terraforming corporation as humanity widens its sprawl across the known universe! Who needs to find another Earth when you can set up shop and just make one wherever you want? However, you're not the only one with this bright idea, there are other corporations (players) out there whom you will have to compete with for terraforming contracts!

That is Landed in a nutshell and Argyle games will be launching a Kickstarter to help publish the game in the next month or so! It is a tile laying game and I ought to say I like tile games quite a bit, Carcassone was one of the first games Courtney and I ever played and on most days Betrayal at House on the Hill is one of my all time favorite games.

So how does Landed distinguish itself? Well the first thing that players will likely notice is that the tiles are hexs rather than the traditional squares you see in most tile games, which means there will be more permutations in how you might arrange them on the table. Next up, each player will have a hand of contracts which if completed will score you points. They all require you to connect tiles all of a certain color, the more in your set the more you will be rewarded. However, since you don't know what contracts your opponents are holding you might be setting them up to steal all of your glory. Finally, some tiles have a special icon on them which can grant you a bonus “Wonder” card, a one time use ability that will let you do something unique. One of my favorite parts of the game is that these Wonder cards are limited so that the game encourages you to play aggressively early on in the game.

Bonus points for: being a compact game that still packs a big punch, being very easy to teach & being published by a Chicago local!

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Full Cat Tower unboxing video on our Facebook! Check it out and tell us which kitty you think is the cutest!

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AquaSphere is a game of researchers doing science in their deep sea lab by programming robots to carry out tasks. That probably sounds like a lot, which is part of AquaSphere's “thing,” the game seems pretty complex but is actually surprisingly easy to grasp once you figure it out. The first thing you'll notice about the game is that the board is really colorful and seems pretty intricate. What is important to know though is that the board is broken down into six almost identical sections and once you understand how one of these sections works you will be able to understand them all.

Most games generally require you to plan ahead and AquaSphere is no exception. What makes the game stand out though is that it kind of points you in the right direction and tells you what to expect in a very subtle way. Players need to program a robot ahead of time and specialize it for one of seven particular tasks including: gathering octopods, expanding your lab or acquiring a research card, etc. It takes place in a series of four rounds, the first usually being the longest as everyone learns the game, and players are told ahead of time what will be added to the board in the following round. Many parts of the initial setup are partially randomized in a way that you will get a slightly different experience each time, which is nice if you're playing with a bunch of experienced gamers because this will help even the playing field somewhat.

Recommended for: People who've already played a worker placement game like Lords of Waterdeep or Agricola. While they are very different from AquaSphere, understanding those types of mechanics will go towards laying the foundation to understanding and appreciating what this great game has to offer.

What Drew likes most about the game: The game works really well in some very subtle ways, once the game starts going it plays very smoothly and quickly. The scoring track puts some hurdles in your way which require players to diversify their actions. Being able to build up your laboratory and specialize it how you like is extremely cool and fits the modular feel of the game perfectly. Finally, there are a number of goals to work towards all of which reward you if you are able to reach them.

Bonus points for: Modular setup & gameplay... ALWAYS bonus points for modular games!

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Just got a big box of games from Iello! Can't wait to start bringing them out to our pop-ups! Dates and RSVP info on MeetUp: http://bit.ly/1KqUhwi

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Since we’re still discovering a ton of older games, we’re continuing with our tradition of highlighting our top 10 games we played for the first time this year [some new, some not].

As Drew mentioned yesterday, we played a lot of games for the first time this year, I beat him with 65 new titles!

Trekking the National Parks

I’ve gone on enough about this game this year. Check out our profile from a few weeks ago. It just hit all the right notes for me when I played it at GenCon and it became a game I wanted to share with everyone.

Great Dinosaur Rush

I’m really glad I got a chance to play this at GenCon this year, and we backed it on the first day of the campaign. It brings two of my passions, board games and natural history/science, together in a way that is creative, engaging and a little educational. 

Eminent Domain

Fact: I love deckbuilding games. I hadn’t actually heard of Eminent Domain, but Drew had been curious about it, and Tasty Minstrel were kind enough to send us a copy. I was hooked! The limited card pool, ability to take actions on other people’s turns, and the mechanism of planetary exploration really set it apart from other deck builders and make it stand out.

Harbour

Worker placement games are my other bread and butter, and this game brings a lot of substance to the table for such a small box. After a short demo at GenCon, we were sold and picking up a copy on the spot. The theme of a goblin-run port is fun [the custom meeples are an added bonus] and the ever changing economics of selling goods makes things challenging.

Landed

A tile laying, zone control game by local publisher Argyle, hitting Kickstarter soon! It’s easy to introduce to new gamers, but has enough complexity and strategy built in to be interesting for more experienced players as well. We’ll be bringing this out to more pop-up events the next couple months, so be sure to drop by and check it out!

Teen Titans

The DC Deckbuilding game is what made the genre click for me. This newest installment, based around the Teen Titans brings some new strategy and game play style to the franchise by focusing on having cards in play that either help over multiple turns, can help boost other cards, or can be sacrificed on a later turn.

One Hit Kill

Someone brought this out to one of our pop-ups recently and I was instantly taken with it. It’s a quick play game where each player is trying to collect cards to complete the requirements of “building” their super weapon. Which may or may not be a cuddly bunny. Best super weapon ever?

Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn

Ashes is a BEAUTIFUL combat-y card game with some interesting features. Dice serve as your energy source to play cards from your hand, and you choose your starting hand?! Crazy right?

Lanterns

This is another game that someone brought out to an event that I was instantly taken with. It’s a beautiful tile laying, set collection game where each person is competing to make the best lantern display on the palace lake.

Raiders of the North Sea

Have I mentioned I like worker placement games? Raiders has an interesting “place one, take one” aspect to it, which allows for 2 actions per turn. The art is dynamic and really sets the scene.

Honorary mention, I got to play about half a game at GenCon at their table, and I enjoyed it enough that I’m still thinking about it.

The New Science

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We ended last year with a series of posts where we picked our favorite games which we had played for the first time that year. Now we are back at it again highlighting our top picks for 2015 out of the games which we played for the very first time…

By our count I (Drew) played 64 games for the first time this year and surprisingly Courtney had me beat having played just one more game than I, though we each had about a dozen or so which were not yet played by the other. That’s well over a new game every single week of the year which is pretty wild! I’d definitely be interested to hear what some of your favorite firsts were this year and also if you are excited to have a chance to play any of mine, so be sure to let us know.

Vault Wars

If you’ve made it to any of our recent events then you probably already know that this is my favorite game played this year. Vault Wars very closely mimics the television show Storage Wars. You all play as aspiring adventurers who need some loot and it just so happens that some folks out there abandoned their treasure vaults, which contain literal Junk alongside various items of value. Just like the show the players are all auctioning / bidding for the vaults and what they might contain. I am starting off with Vault Wars because it is my favorite game of the year but the others will be in no particular order.

Fury of Dracula

Twilight fans need not apply! Fury of Dracula is a thematic hunt featuring Van Helsing and crew which takes many cues from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. One player is Dracula himself who operates with a hidden movement mechanic meanwhile the other four characters work together to find his trail and bring the villain to an end. The game was just recently reprinted this past October and I can’t wait for another opportunity to play it again in the new year. If you’re in the mood for an truly epic gaming experience I highly recommend checking this one out!

XCOM

I remember receiving a demo disk in a PC Gamer magazine and discovering one of the earlier X-COM games when I was probably twelve. While Fantasy Flight’s recent release shares the name it bears similarities to the much more recent reinventions of the series. X-COM the board game is a co-operative game which integrates the use of a digital app from your tablet (or phone). You are part of a super secret international agency tasked with defending earth from an imminent alien invasion. The game has a real-time element to it which requires strong communication and decisive action from the players in what becomes the most stressful board game I think I have ever played… IT IS GREAT!

Cosmic Encounter

Cosmic Encounter has become quite a phenomenon and I really have no excuse why I hadn’t played it sooner. A regular to our events brought it out one night and I was practically begging her to bring it out again. Its stab your neighbor in the back style game play is great for larger groups and is very approachable for newer gamers.

Ashes : Rise of the Phoenixborn

A card game which came out during the middle of this year. It uses a model similar to Fantasy Flight’s “living card games” and has absolutely AMAZING art. Really though the art is amazing, it sold us on the game instantly and lucky for us it turns out that the game play is also exceptional. Plaid Hat Games has recently announced a whole slew of expansion content and we can’t wait.

Trains: Rising Sun

My favorite deck-building game played this year. Having a board that is effected by the cards you acquire makes things really interesting and perhaps a little bit more tangible for people who are new to the genre. I also particularly like the “Waste” cards which work as a sort of price of progress style mechanic.

Alchemists

Alchemists feels like a game that people will either love dearly or hate deeply. You are all squabbling alchemists trying to discern the mystical properties of various ingredients and it involves what feel like a series of mini-games which all form this very tight logic puzzle that fits the theme perfectly. It involves all sorts of ups and downs throughout the game. My favorite aspect of Alchemists is that it often rewards players for participating in “bad science.” The complexity of the game means that it caters to a very specific type of gamer and I’m still learning new things about the game each time it comes to the table.

Star Wars : X-Wing 

I used to play a lot of tactical miniature war games when I was younger and X-Wing really scratches that itch. It doesn’t help matters that after seeing the most recent movie all I want to do is play this game more and more. In essence it is a dog-fighting game that feels like something that could almost as easily be themed around World War 2 era aerial combat. X-Wing stands out in that is incredibly simple to learn but also has game play which is deceptively intricate if you want it to be.

Star Wars : Imperial Assault

Okay, so I put the two of these back to back and I have no shame in admitting that Star Wars fever caught on very hard for me late this past summer. Imperial Assault is a narrative driven dungeon crawler pitting a team of Rebel players against a solo player controlling the Imperial menace. The game takes the Star Wars franchise and puts it into this great choose-your-own-adventure style experience.

Shadows of Brimstone: City of Ancients

The locals have dug perhaps a little too deep in this Wild West meets H.P. Lovecraft themed dungeon crawler. It is incredibly brutal and the theme of this game really comes out in an incredibly satisfying way. If unloading your six shooter on a spider monster or creating a chaotic maelstrom of death by chucking dynamite down the mine shaft sound at all like fun you should definitely wrangle a posse of friends together and give this one a go.

Honorable mentions for two games which I need to dedicate some more time for in 2016 so that I can fully appreciate them:

Landed

Memoir 44

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Board games make an amazing gift for kids & teens. With digital media so widely used sometimes it is nice to slow down and interact with something more tactile. Not to mention the potential to open up someone's imagination or improving their ability to interact socially with others! This is our fourth gift guide of the week and this time it will be targeted at gifts for teens.

Here are the criteria for our teen gift guide: -Must have enough depth to keep their interest across multiple plays -Being thematically exciting helps

Star Wars: X-Wing

Surely Star Wars is the big “thing” this holiday season, but this game packs enough punch that it will still be amazing even after the hype has died down. What's not to love about a game that involves X-Wings and Tie Fighters dog-fighting for all the glory! The game ultimately boils down to just that, a dog-fighting style game where each player must outmaneuver their opponent in order to seize victory. The fact that it is published by Fantasy Flight games might be both a blessing and a curse, they put out absolutely amazing games but they also tend to release so many different expansions for them that you want to buy them all. The core set has enough for two people to play an introductory game but we recommend that it be paired with either a second core set (getting two is actually pretty good value) or 1-2 smaller expansions which contain their own ships.

Memoir 44

I got into board games when I was pretty young, I remember spending many weekends playing Axis & Allies with friends. The bummer for me though was that the game was so long I could rarely convince my parents to play with me and Memoir manages to scratch that itch. Memoir 44 is a light war game following the events of World War II. Each play session plays as a skirmish centered around one of the era's historical battles. The combat system revolves around drawing and playing cards which are used to give your troops orders. If either the parents or children have some interest in historical battles or military this should be an easy game to get to the table, it plays pretty quickly and the rules are pretty straightforward.

(Note: We have a Japanese box, but all of the art & cards are the same as the base game. Cute and fun!)

Machi Koro

Our final game for the teen's list is a city-building game which revolves around rolling dice. Although this game is definitely fun it can also subtly help your child work on their money management and planning skills. Each player starts with the trappings of a very simple city and over the course of the game they decide which direction it will take by purchasing cards which represent buildings. Each building gives the player some sort of bonus if they roll the right results on their dice. The game plays up to four players but plays just as well with just two. Finally since there is a decent amount of luck involved, everyone at the table has some chance of winning which can be nice if there is normally some sort of skill gap.

They also offer it as a deluxe edition, which includes both available expansions and comes in a lovely tin box, perfect for gift giving!

Bonus Recommendations: Super Dungeon Explore, Smash Up, Pandemic, Gravwell, Dominion (highly recommend this one for high school aged teens)

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Sometimes a big gift comes in a small package & that will be today's theme for gaming gifts! These are all games which should be great as stocking stuffers / secret santas or just a little something extra.

Here are the criteria for our stocking stuffer gift guide: -Must potentially fit within a stocking... that's really just about it!

Sushi Go

This game is an amazing one to use to introduce someone to modern gaming. Sushi Go is an incredibly simple drafting game, where players take turns selecting from an initially large pool of cards. While collecting cards players are trying to build various sushi dishes that are each worth varying numbers of points. The adorable art helps make the game even more approachable. One note I would make is that it doesn't play particularly well with just two players but it is definitely an easy game to rope others into and plays fairly quickly.

Timeline

There are quite a few games out there that fall under the Timeline moniker; however, they all revolve around the same mechanic. Each game comes as a small tin containing a bunch of cards which all depict a broad theme including: Historical Events, Music & Cinema and Inventions which is our favorite. The goal of the game is to determine whether one event took place before or after in the “timeline” and the tricky part is that as you continue adding cards to the timeline these decisions become more and more granular. Timeline plays well with just about any group composition and you are almost always bound to learn something new when this is at the table!

Harbour

Whereas the previous two games are much more entry-level, Harbour is a surprisingly large game in such a small box! In its simplest form it is a worker placement and stock trading game. Each player controls their section of the Harbour and is trying to develop it as quickly as possible by purchasing buildings. You accomplish this by going to various locations and acquiring merchandise in the form of Cattle, Fish, Stone & Wood. Once you have enough of the goods you need, you may sell them in order to buy a building. However, by flooding the market with those products they will all be temporarily devalued for everyone at the table. The game plays very cyclically like this until someone has built their fourth building, at which point everyone totals up their points to declare a winner. If you're looking for a deep game that takes up almost no shelf space or that fits in your purse then this is the game for you!

Bonus Recommendations: Red 7, Hanabi, Welcome to the Dungeon, Flip City

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Yesterday w gave some game suggestions that could work well as gifts for families. Today I will be recommending games for couples, whether you searching for a present for some of your friends or for your special someone these should all work quite well.

Here are the criteria we focused on for our couples gift guide: -Most importantly they must be viable and fun with as few as two players -They can't be particularly cutthroat -Ideally a 1-2 hour play time

Lords of Waterdeep

This is a strategy game in which players vie for influence over the city of Waterdeep. They accomplish this by sending out their minions and workers to various locations within the city to acquire resources and build buildings. The game has a somewhat economic lean to it, requiring players to weigh their options and work with limited resources. With 4 or 5 players it can become quite competitive but when playing with just two there is a bit more room to breath and each person can carve out their own path to victory. Bonus Point: This is the game which really got Courtney into gaming, her favorite thing about it is that the game gives you something to work towards right at the beginning of the game with the Lord bonus cards.

Trains

Trains and it's exceptionally awesome follow up, Rising Sun, are games which fall into the overarching category of “Deck-Building Games.” In these types of games players typically start with very small identical decks which they build upon by adding new cards, strengthening themselves in the process. What sets this game apart from others is that there is also a board / map which players will build their railway empire on, this extra element makes the game a bit more understandable and approachable.

Rising Sun features 3 maps, one side for 3-4 player games, and one side with 2 different 2 player maps. One of the 2 player maps is pictured. 

Heroes Wanted

I often refer to this as the board game version of  Mystery Men the movie. Players each control a not-so-super-hero and try to defeat the villain along with their hoard of henchman. This is a relatively cooperative experience; however, the game also rewards players for going after each other as well as being the first to complete specific objectives. Heroes Wanted has an amazing sense of humor especially when it comes to determining your character's superpowers and the personality of the super-villain. The rules are a medium on the scale of complexity however some of the wacky randomness can throw players for a loop.

Bonus recommendations: Carcassonne, Survive, Evolution

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Occasionally we bring out a game to an event and it is such a hit that a week or so later someone lets us know that they rushed out and bought themselves a copy. This is great! It puts a huge smile on our faces and lets us know that we did something right. Somewhat related it just so happens to be that time of year where we have folks asking us for either gift suggestions or recommendations for ideal games to bring to a family gathering. This week we will be putting out a series of brief gift guides. No two games or gamers are perfectly alike and so with that said each guide will be tailored to a different type of crowd.

With our family game guide we are focusing on a few criteria:

-The games need to play well with larger groups

-The games need to be approachable enough for relatives & children but deep enough to keep people engaged

-Lighthearted themes usually help

Carcassonne

A classic tile laying game that anybody can learn. Players take turns building up the scenic French countryside by placing connecting tiles that each have depictions of a fields, roads, castles and cloisters. Points are scored for completing each type of map feature. One of our favorite aspects of Carcassonne is that no two games play the same and that at the end of each session you are left with a unique looking map.

# of players: 2-5 (plays well with any number though it will usually take a little longer to complete with five)

Trekking the National Parks 

This is a game which we've already talked about a fair bit in the past and will definitely make it onto at least one of our yearly top 10 lists! Trekking is an extremely solid gateway game that is easy to learn and plays very quickly. You all play as a hiker visiting various national parks across the united states collecting stones and claiming landmarks.

# of players: 2-5

Read Courtney's spotlight here.

Snow Tails

Some of you might be familiar with Formula D, which was featured on Wil Wheaton's Tabletop, to which Snow Tails bears a strong resemblance. Players each lead a dog sled team that must navigate through a treacherous snow course. The rules are very straightforward and this racing game can really come down to the wire!

# of players: 2-5

Bonus recommendations: Camel Up, Dixit, Codenames, King of Tokyo

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Loopin' Chewie!

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I know you've always wanted to play IRL Star Wars Angry Birds. At Sulzer library till 3pm!