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2020-06-14 13.56.27

BuzzleBox – a bundle of games, puzzles and family time.

The Buzzlebox, created by Dark Imp Games is a selection of games and puzzles delivered to your door for the whole family to play with and figure out together. At the moment there are two themed choices available- Gardens and Chickens or Doughnuts and Cake. With a Space themed box on it’s way soon. Dark Imp games very kindly gifted us the Doughnuts and Cake box. There are 5 of us in my family – all with different, yet often, overlapping tastes in games. The children are 15, 13 and 12.

As soon as you start opening the box, the fun begins. There were stickers on the box which related to one of the three puzzles. These stickers were everywhere – on the back of things, on the letter, inside a packet of card games – a really simple touch that made it immediately engaging. It’s also worth noting that there is no excess packaging or plastic which is a breath of fresh air when so many companies overlook the importance of this. 
 
Doughnut Dash 

I approached Doughnut Dash with trepidation. Anyone who knows me or has ever been in the car with me knows that my sense of direction is non-existent. So, when I saw the direction cards and read some of the sugar rush action cards – my heart sank. However, I am happy to report that I navigated the game successfully (multiple times) and I really enjoyed it. There are cards which clearly label the directions and the cards that allow you to change direction all contain an example which I’m sure was put there for younger players but was totally vital to me! 
 
You are running a pair of impish thieves who must make their way round the factory stealing doughnuts from the shelves and from other thieves that they encounter. The theme is brilliant with lovely wooden components that are pretty and bright. We played it with 2, 3 and 4 players and it was brilliant each time. My only complaint is that it didn’t play 5. It is rare that we can get all 5 of us to play the same game at the same time – for once they were all interested in playing together and so we played in different groups but it was a shame we couldn’t play all together. 
 
I have spoken to one of the Dark Imps and it turns out they have psychically resolved my concerns by designing the next box (which is Space themed) to include a 3-6 and a 2-9 player game which is awesome. I look forward to ordering one of those!
 
One of the really nice things about this game is that you can try out different strategies – there are lots of different layers to the game which gives us plenty of incentive to play it again and again. For instance the Sugar Rush cards help you out by allowing you to adjust which direction you travel in or to swap some cards but if you can save them they are worth points at the end of the game. And the more helpful the card, the higher the value if you can avoid using it. Another clever idea is the rainbow frosted doughnuts which actually start off costing you points but if you can collect a set they are incredibly valuable. It makes collecting them a risky strategy but then choosing not to collect might leave them all for one other player – do you want to give away those points? It’s questions and balances like this that make the game fun and varied. 
 
Top Cake

In Top Cake you are a hotelier competing to create the finest cake at the industry’s leading luxury trade show. You must bid against other hoteliers to grab the finest layers to construct your showstopper. But of course, it’s not so easy: bids are hidden, a reverse cards allows you to switch so that the lowest bid wins, a snatch card allows you to trump any bid but only once per game, the first player token doubles as a tantalising 1/2 point bid and if you match bid cards with another player your cards are returned to you! These are a few of the intricacies which make this such a great, thinky game. Played over 5 rounds you need to think quickly and decisively. Cake waits for no man! 
 
Of course, you’ve also got the attraction of building a deliciously illustrated cake or a spooky looking cake which of course I gravitated towards. Unfortunately some swine snatched my bat cake topper. I’d have won if it wasn’t for those pesky bat stealing kids. 
 
Top Cake plays 2 to 4 players and is definitely more fun with more people. Like Doughnut Dash your strategies are strongly influenced by what other people do; you need to continuously adapt. In this way the games in the box are perfectly designed. They are supposed to ‘help you reclaim family time by playing board games together’ and they definitely achieve that. There is a lot of interaction in all the games in the box, you need to be acutely aware of each other and each others’ decisions. 
 
Puzzles
Even as I was still unpacking the box, I uttered the word ‘puzzle’ , pondered aloud about where all the stickers were and what they meant, and my 15 year old was immediately all over it. He absolutely loves a good puzzle. The first task of finding all the stickers in various places had him hooked. He was so keen to get going and the girls were working so rather than keep him waiting (or worse, risk loss of interest!) I actually photocopied the puzzles so he could get stuck in straightaway. 
 
Despite 15s head start he graciously gave the others the thinking time they needed and didn’t blurt out all the answers so we were able to work together to get one of the puzzles completed. We don’t have a great family record in this area.
 
On recent holidays we have completed treasure hunts that you can buy from the Tourist Information shops. They are great fun and everyone loves doing them but they are always a source of contention. This fun holiday activity always culminates in me clutching the clues to me so no-one else can see and a strict ruling about not blurting out answers before other people have chance to think or speak. My son is particularly talented at both puzzles and irritating his siblings so these measures are necessary. So I was ready – hence the photocopying and the ‘Don’t tell your sisters any answers and DO NOT give them clues unless they ask for them’ ruling. However, I’m sure other (less mad) families won’t need to worry about that. 
 
The first puzzle we did was a good mix of clues carefully pitched to play to each of our strengths; some the children couldn’t have got and some that my partner and I had no idea of that the kids got immediately. I thought it was well balanced and we were forced to work together which is both the purpose and the attraction of the Buzzle Box. 
 
Unfortunately we were stumped by the other two puzzles – they were just too tricky for us. But, by following the link on the puzzle card we got some clues which led us to our three cake related words. I’ve chatted with one of the Dark Imps and she is looking at both the difficulty level of puzzles and considering different ways of helping people to access clues in later boxes. Once you have all the clues you can unlock the secret page on the website. 
 
Coaster Game
One of our favourites was the 2 player game on a coaster. The one we got was quick to learn and quite straightforward. You each choose an image on the grid and then ask questions to deduce the whereabouts of your opponent’s chosen image. The images are cute and colourful, the game is very appealing and can be played over and over again. Our 12 year old particularly enjoyed this one. It played 2 players but was fairly quick so it was fine to just take turns playing. It’s the kind of game I tend to have in my bag to whip out if anyone uses the ‘B’ word. That’s bored by the way. I’m not sure board games can stop them swearing, if anything they make my partner worse!
 
You can also buy most of the component parts of the Buzzle Box separately on the website. But honestly I think the box is such good value that the coasters and place mats are the only things I would consider buying separately. The coasters are sold in packs of 120 for only £16.99- they are perfect for weddings or for board games or family cafes. They are a perfect little gift or freebie to give to people if you’re in a games related business.
 
Game Cards

This pack of three games just needed a deck of cards, pen and paper. I really liked the fact that it included a 1, 2 and 3 player game as it meant that we could all play them kind of at the same time. I’ve had a lot of fun playing the solo game – it’s a patience type game with a puzzle element. My 13 year old really loves traditional style card games so this whole pack was right up her street. I can see the Gooseberry Fool game being a regular family games night feature and I know she’ll want to teach her friends when she can get together with them again. Gooseberry Fool uses a trick taking mechanism which is very familiar and easy to understand. But more importantly it’s a fun little game. 
The instruction cards are clear and easy to follow but there is also a link to a ‘how to play’ video which is always helpful. 
 
The Buzzle boxes cost £49.99 and for that you get: 6 original games; 3 puzzles all centred around an engaging theme; 
as well as family time, away from distraction, screen free. We really enjoyed ours and the hours of entertainment we have had from it so far make it excellent value. There are loads of reasons to treat the family to a Buzzlebox or it would make a great gift for another family. For us it will the perfect addition next time we are going on holiday. We always take games with us and having tried one of the boxes I would be confident taking this pack of new games as a holiday treat. We usually go camping in the UK so it will be perfect for that ‘occasional’ rainy day!
 
Join us at a Cards or Die event and try out some of Dark Imp’s awesome games. 
 

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Strikerz! For Footy Fans Everywhere.

Get the orange segments ready, we’re kicking off a game of Strikerz. 
 
Strikerz from Caper Games is a quick, fun 2 player game based on a game of Football (or soccer as it says on the box). Just as in football you need to score more goals than your opponent to win. But unlike an actual game of football it takes nowhere near 90 minutes! It takes somewhere between 15 – 30 minutes for a game. It is a fast paced set collection game with a quirky mechanic for taking a shot at goal. And if you are stuck on a draw after the final whistle blows, you get to have a penalty shoot out.
 
The game itself comes in a tiny box, the size of a pack of playing cards. The box contains the two teams you need (red and blue – particularly pleasing for the Liverpool/ Manchester contingent!); goal cards to keep track of the score; action cards – yellow card, red card, whistle, manager & offside; keeper’s right & left glove for each team plus shoot at goal cards.
 
How to Play
Deal a hand of four cards to each player. 
On your turn you draw a card either from the deck or the top of the discard pile (as long as it isn’t an action card) and either play a card or, discard one and shoot at goal. 
In order to shoot at goal you need either four of your team’s jerseys; a set of jerseys comprising a midfielder, a striker and a defender, or a total of cards worth 30+ points. 
To shoot, you select a ball card kicking the ball either to the left or right of the goal. To defend you select a right or left glove indicating which corner you will jump towards to save the ball. The cards are marked so that when you line them up and flip your card you can see straightaway if you have scored. See images below. 

Action Cards
 
Manager – this card allows you to swap in one of your higher value substitutes. 
Red Card – one of your opponent’s cards is removed from the game
Yellow Card – one of your opponents’s cards is placed at the bottom of the discard pile 
Offside – draw two cards and discard two cards
Whistle – your opponent misses a turn and you go again.

If you are still on a no score draw when you have played through the deck twice (the two halves) first of all you play extra time (play once more through the deck). Still nil-nil? Then it goes to a penalty shoot out. Take it in turns to shoot at goal. 
 
The shooting is my favourite part. Trying to second guess which card your opponent will play has meant that all those hours watching Derren Brown on the telly haven’t gone to waste. Although at one point I caught my son out – I believed it was the intense staring that had psyched him out but actually I had got my left and right confused. So I also offer that as a tactic. No-one can guess what you’re going to do if you have no idea yourself! 
 
I grew up saturated with football (with a Scouse family it was inevitable) but I’m not the greatest fan myself. Still I really enjoyed this game and definitely if you love football this is one that has been lovingly designed for you. It is so much more than just football themed, instead it mimics a game of football using strikers, defenders and midfielders who must play together well to shoot, subs, red and yellow cards and the shoot at goal mechanism. If you want to get a football lover playing more games with you then this is definitely a way to tempt them in.
It’s a fun, snappy little game and I can’t wait to take it out to events and get people playing.

We are grateful to Caper Games for supporting Cards or Die by donating this copy of the game and also making a donation on our KoFi during this challenging time for the business.

Join us at a Cards or Die event for a game. 

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Half Truth – the quiz where you only need to know half the answers!

But it turns out, only having to get half the answers right is a lot harder than it sounds. 

Half Truth is the new quiz game from the brilliant minds of Richard Garfield (creator of Magic the Gathering) and Ken Jennings (a record-breaking Jeopardy contestant). Magic is one of the most influential card games ever created. As this is such a different genre of game I had incredibly high but at the same time very non-specific expectations; I expected greatness but had no idea what form that greatness would take. I am not disappointed. 
 
The game is played over three rounds with players gaining victory points after each question and then at the end of each round. The person with the most victory points at the end of the game wins. For each question or statement there are three correct answers (truths) and three false answers. You can choose up to three of your voting chips to answer the question, scoring more points the more you get right. But, get one wrong and you score zero. So if you get over confident or desperately behind you can easily be tripped up. Having an English Literature degree, it turns out, does not mean you definitely know which of the six books listed have an opening sentence that is less than six words long. It does mean though that you are overly confident, score zero and then have the ‘Weren’t you an English teacher?’ ‘That doesn’t mean I’ve read every book that exists’ conversation. Again.
 
Before you answer each question, the die is rolled to determine how many points the question is worth which randomises the value of the questions. One of the symbols on the die rewards risk taking by increasing your points the more answers you go for, while another lets you select between one and three incorrect answers. This gives the game a little variety and changes up how you feel about pushing your luck each turn. Choosing the three incorrect answers for some reason really threw us off, making us think more which was an unexpected twist. 

You place your carefully selected voting chip(s) face down in front of you. And if you are me – remove one, add two, swap one then revert to your original guess *ahem* knowledgeable answer while people repeatedly say ‘Ready?’. When finally revealed you place them in the corresponding space on the game board and turn over the question card to find out who got what right! The components are chunky and satisfyingly tactile and hard wearing. This is another important consideration for me as this will clearly be a game that gets plenty of play. 
 
There are 500 question cards which is a massive amount making this an excellent investment and they cover a bewildering array of topics. I’m sure by the time we’ve worked our way through all of these I will have completely forgotten which are legitimate Ikea products and which are just made up words; what is a dinosaur as opposed to a character in Transformers and which characters are from Alice Through The Looking Glass as opposed to Alice in Wonderland. 

The volume of questions means that we didn’t worry too much that we had to put some to one side. Our household knowledge of American culture is such that some questions were just beyond us. Best guessing and deducing answers is part of the fun but pure guess work feels a bit pointless. 
 
Half Truth boasts that it is ‘the party game that makes you feel smarter’. I know it wouldn’t be as catchy but more accurately this would read ‘the party game that makes alternating players feel smart while mere moments later questioning everything they ever thought they knew’. Some of the questions are really challenging. 
 
The worst part of it is that they don’t look challenging. With categories like ‘Words in the lyrics of Hey! Jude’, it’s easy to be blase – I definitely know *all* the words to that. Gets ready to confidently identify the three correct answers and score all the points. Cue 6 people sitting round the table singing with diminishing confidence ‘Hey Jude, don’t make it ….bbbbaaaa, da da da da da da da da da-a-a-a Remember to let her into your heart da da da daaa da da da better better better better.’
Erm, yep turns out we all only know some of the words. 
 
After correctly (and smugly) identifying three types of headwear, we flipped the card to learn that the remaining three incorrect answers were types of doll. So, we learned a thing – whether that counts as becoming smarter remains to be seen! Another clever facet of the game is that often the three wrong answers are linked in some way so you could use some unrelated knowledge lurking about in a dusty corner of your brain, recognise that and still win big.

One of the things I enjoy about a well designed quiz game is the discussion it provokes. Many of these answers and the explanation on the flip side found us discussing, debating and swapping stories. We spent a good while comparing the merits of various visitor attractions after we tried and failed to work out which three destinations attract more visitors than Disneyland.
 
Watching people play games and listening to the laughter and chatter is my favourite part of running games events. I know that this game will provide that connection and that fun for players of all ages. All I need now are some events to take it to but that time will come again once it’s safe. Luckily it will play well on Skype so I’m looking forward to trying it there. Find out more about my online lockdown events here and join me for a game. 

Now we’re back to in person events you can play this at one of Cards or Die’s events. 

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Tapeworm Review.

f you’ve been to any of my events you’ll know that usually you can tell me which game you have enjoyed and I can reliably recommend something you’ll like. And, if you want to play a game but don’t have enough players I can suggest a good alternative. But occasionally my brain goes a bit wibbly. For example the people who told me they had enjoyed Ticket to Ride so I then wittered on at length about other games with trains in until they stopped me and said ‘We’re not especially interested in trains….’ Then there was the couple who wanted to play Who Did It? but you need three players for that so I recommended my two other poo themed games – Poo! or Dino Dump. They were surprised that I was able to hone in on that theme and offer alternative poo themed games. Well! Great news. There’s more where that came from! 
 
Tapeworm is the new family card game from Edmund McMillen (creator of The Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy and more…) featuring cute, confused, gross and slightly sinister worms. The art work is fabulous – lots of gross details like worms on worms, bright colours, even the angry red worm looks quite sweet! However, google caution is advised – if you’re searching make sure you include card game and don’t, don’t click on images!

The game itself is quick to learn, quick to play and the mechanics are not difficult at all making it perfect for families with little ones. As long as you can colour match, you can play. Each player starts with 5 cards and the winner is the first to get rid of all their cards. On your turn, you draw a card and place one of your worm cards on a matching colour segment. You can keep playing matching cards until you play a card with a head on or a card which changes the colour. You can also get rid of bonus cards if you can steer your worms into a circle.

So despite the worms wiggling their way through the ‘tunnels’ it all seems very gentile. Cute even? Right? Wrong. As well as getting rid of your cards on your turn you also get to mess up your opponents’ plans using special actions. Perfect. 
You can get rid of your crap cards by swapping them with others, discarding to the top of the draw pile, you can chop the worms up removing some dead ends from play, make others pick cards up. Generally dump all over their plans! And yes I’m still laughing at poo- I know I’m a rubbish adult. 
 

The scissors cards (pictured left) let you cut a segment or segments of a worm of the corresponding colour away. On the right you can see the special symbols for swapping, peeking, digging and making someone pick up a card. 
 

Tapeworm is available on Kickstarter right now and is absolutely flying. Over £120,000 of a £20,000 target! Click the link to find out more. 

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Making Games for the Family

My favourite homework to be asked for help with is, unsurprisingly, ‘make a board game of…’ And with the kids going ‘back to school’ on Monday I thought I would share some game making ideas that all the family can get on board with!
 
They require varying amounts of equipment/ technology and assistance and will appeal to different ages. I haven’t assigned ages to the games – you know your children and now we are at home we can educate them based on what is most appropriate to their needs rather than what month and year they were born in. Things like dice and pawns may be useful for some of them but just use whatever you have to hand – raid the plastic farm animals or the kinder egg toys! No dice? Remember the spinners you used to get on the back of selection boxes? You could spend some time engineering one of those and doing some testing and refining to make sure it is truly random. 
 
Kippers
You will need: Thin paper, a thicker grade of paper or card, string or tape. 
1. Cut out your kippers from the thin paper (traditionally newspaper was used)
2. Make sure they are all identical sizes (you don’t want any unfairness – believe me!).
3. Write names on the kippers.
4. Lay out a starting line and a finish line on the floor.
5. Space the kippers out along the starting line. 
6. On ‘Go’ players have to use their thicker piece of paper or card to waft their Kipper repeatedly until it makes it over the finish line. 
Educational Value: It depends on how much you let the children do, the cutting out can help them practice their finer motor skills. It’s also surprisingly athletic!!
 
Snakes and Ladders
You will need: a patio is ideal for this, if not just some concrete and a tape measure, chalks, a sunny day, dice. 
Or, a sheet of card, a ruler, colours, dice. 
1. Draw out your board taking care to measure the squares 1- 100. 
2. Add Snakes and Ladders to your drawing making sure they start and end clearly inside your marked squares.
3. Roll the dice – if you are outside, you can move yourself the number of spaces you roll or if you are playing on a smaller scale move your pawn. 
4. If you land on a snake’s head you slip down the snake back to the square its tail ends in. 
5. If you land on a ladder you climb up to the space the ladder ends in. 
Educational Value: this game involves drawing snakes (the more colourful the better) and ladders. If you wanted, you could do some research and draw some different breeds of snakes. You will need to accurately measure the spaces if you are drawing the board. 
If you are playing outside make sure you are respecting the social distancing rules. #stayhome #staysafe

Guess Who!
You will need: a camera, a selection of fancy dress – e.g. hats, glasses, wigs!, cardboard, a printer. I had menu card holders but you don’t need these. 
1. Take photos of the family in a variety of poses/ outfits. Or, find existing photos of yourselves. When I made our version for the wedding I was surprised by how often myself and my partner wear different hats – it proved very useful. You need a variety of photos so that you will be able to deduce which image your opponent has in front of them. 
2. Print out the photos. You will need three copies of each – you may want to use different colours on the reverse side to differentiate the three decks. 
3. Lay out two decks face up – one facing each player. 
4. Players choose a card from the third deck (Keep it hidden)
5. Take turns to ask closed questions (yes or no answers only) until you have deduced which card your opponent has. 
e.g. Q. Has yours got sunglasses on?
A. No
Person who asked the question turns all the ones with sunglasses on facedown. 
 
Educational Value: computer skills – photos can be edited, photography skills including uploading the photos. The game itself uses questioning and deduction skills. 

Themed Top Trumps
You will need: Card – cut into card sized rectangles, colours, pens. 
1. Decide on your topic and then decide what headings your cards will have. Choose about 5 headings for categories e.g. height, strength, intellect, danger….
2. Research your topic finding different people, creatures, vehicles, characters, deities… to go on your cards. 
3. On each card add an image, a short summary – some interesting facts about the subject of the card, then 5 numbers – one for each heading. 
4. For each category think about what will be the highest number and what will be the lowest. They don’t all have to have the same range but you do want a good variety in your cards.
5. When your deck is complete, shuffle it and deal out the cards.
6. Turn over your top card, choose a category and challenge your opponent. Whoever has the highest number wins. The first to lose all their cards is the loser. 
Educational Value: research. This really invites some in depth study of a subject or hobby. You can use art or computing skills depending on whether you are drawing or printing cards out. 
 
Beetle Drive
You will need: Dice, Paper, Pencils. 
Most of us probably remember Beetle Drive or some variation of it from our childhood. You can mix it up by using different animals instead of beetles if you like. 
1. You must roll a 6 to start and when you roll 6 you may draw the beetle’s head. 
2. There are other parts which must be drawn in order – e.g. you cannot draw the legs until you have drawn the body. 
3. Play continues in a clockwise direction with everyone taking a turn to roll the dice and then draw if they get the number they need. However, you can abandon the turn taking and make it into a race by giving each player a dice of their own. 
 
Educational Value: This encourages children to recognise numbers and the number patterns on the dice. 

I made a cat version but you could do any animal or creature you like. I also did a Zombie version for Halloween. 
 
Misfits
You will need: card, scissors, pencil, colours, images of people. 
1. You can either draw people or cut out pictures of people and glue them to the card. 
If you are drawing people it may help to draw lines across the card where the segments will be cut. 
2. Then carefully cut each person into the same number of segments. In the original game that is hat, face, body and arms and legs. 
3. Shuffle the cards then deal out the same amount to each player. Leave the rest in a draw pile. 
4. The first person to shout that they have a hat in their hand (or just a head if you are playing with less segments) goes first. 
5. Take turns to add to the misfit on the table or start a new one with a hat card. 
6. If you add a leg to a misfit the person who plays the matching leg takes the misfit and puts it in a pile in front of them.
7. Legs have to match in order to play the second leg card.
8. The winner is the person with the most misfits in front of them at the end. 
Educational Value: Art and creativity. 

Dixit
You will need: card, scissors, glue, magazines, newspapers, greetings cards, brochures, junk mail, a way of keeping score, voting chips and at least 3 players. In order to create the cards it would first help to understand how the game is to be played so I will explain that first. 
1. Choose a card from your hand and say something about it – that can be a word, a phrase, a lyric, a line from a film. 
2. Everyone else then chooses a card from their hand which matches with what you said. They give you the card.
3. Shuffle the cards and lay them out face up. 
4. Everyone (except you) must vote for which they think is your card.
5. If some people guess correctly both you and those who got it correct score 3 points. 
But, if everybody or nobody correctly identifies your card – you score 0. 
6. Everyone who received a vote on their card earns one point for every vote they received. 
Because of the way the game plays the cards are delightfully abstract, strange and detailed. There are always lots of different ways of looking at them and a variety of things to say about them. 
You could make a fantastic set of cards using drawing, collage and a free imagination. If you have the game you could add them to your deck. 
If you are interested in getting a copy of the game it’s on sale at Travelling Man Leeds. 
Educational Value: Art for arts sake! The exploration and creation of art is a fantastic escape from the stresses and strains of the everyday. The game itself is very imaginative with beautiful illustrations. There is also the challenge of distilling down the image on the card into a word or phrase.

Or… just ‘Make a Board Game’
You will need: whatever you like- your imagination is the only boundary here – pens, paints, chalks, paper, cardboard (use a cereal packet cut open), the recycling bin contents, pebbles, pawns, toy dragons, toy dinosaurs, a dice or spinner. 
You can make it as big as your garden or tiny – to fit in an old matchbox. 
You can research the theme – vikings, dinosaurs, whales… or you can make it entirely fictitious, from the depths of your marvellous brain.
 
I’d love to see your creations if you’ve been inspired by these ideas. Share your pictures with me over on Facebook or on Twitter. 

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Taking Board Games Online.

The Cards or Die Board Games collection has been all over the place – pubs, cafes, weddings, corporate training, senior citizens groups, schools, dementia cafes, festivals and now they are heading online. 
 
For me board games are always about connecting with other people. Before now that has always meant sitting round the table, touching the pieces, shuffling the cards, chatting and laughing. Board games are intrinsically tactile and social. But now with all my bookings cancelled I like many of you have had to rethink things. I looked at online gaming in its true sense with virtual boards and pieces but it’s just not for me. I’m not a tremendously digital person. I use technology but honestly I’d be happy if I still had my typewriter, still sent and received actual letters and I could still call the operator if there was a problem with my phone calls. 
 
So the lowest tech solution I could come up with was a google doc, which has suggested times and dates of games along with details of games we can play, and then a Skype call with whoever wants to join in. So far we have played Forbidden Island, Pandemic (I appreciate this didn’t appeal to everyone), Boggle, Fletter Fuse and Picture This. I’ve really enjoyed connecting with people over Skype – I’ve met some new people and seen lots of familiar faces too. 
 
I find Skype, Zoom and any other facetime apps which allow multiple people in the conversation quite awkward. I find it difficult to read social cues if I am not face to face with people in real life so these kind of apps can make me feel incredibly anxious. However, doing a structured activity where (even in co-operative games) we take turns has helped me to feel comfortable online. Board games are a brilliant way to reduce or remove social awkwardness. I knew this was true in real life and now I know it is true online too.

You are more than welcome to sign up to sessions I am running or get in touch and request a game. A group of you can book on (whether you are in the same house or spread across a few households). I am offering this on a pay as you feel basis as I know that many people (like me) are not earning anything if they are stuck at home while others are still making money and can afford to pay something. If you are home alone with no income I don’t want you to feel that you can’t access this service. 
 
The online events are much the same as my face to face events really. I teach the game and then either join in to make up the numbers or just facilitate to make sure we all remember what we are supposed to be doing and when! I email you anything I think might help you play – copies of cards or summary of turn so you don’t need to be familiar with the game to play either. 
 
What works online?
I am still working out the answer to this. So far I have concentrated mainly on quiz games and co-operative games. Have a look on the google doc to see what sorts of games I’m offering for inspiration. Some of the suitable games are pictured below.

If you have the same game as other people this is a bonus as you can use the cards and pieces from each of them although you may still find it easier to just use one board. You can always use a pen and paper to make a note of where you are up to, what cards you have etc.
 
I have been emailing out anything I think will be useful in advance. It is always useful to be able to see what cards might come up with a summary of what they do and a turn order guide that tells you what sorts of things you can do on your turn. Some people like to have the rules in front of them whilst playing too. 
 
Co-operative games work well as they don’t require you to keep your hand of cards hidden – you are working together to solve a puzzle, grab some treasure, cure a pandemic or escape a windswept desert. It’s also fine that one person moves the pieces on the board. Movement is just one small part of your strategising that turn.
 
Quizzes are good fun online and if there are a few of you in a household you can easily play against another household. In fact I am just off to add Family Fortunes to the list…. Quizzes are also plentiful on the internet and can easily be adapted to match the interests of your family and friends. It’s something you can get creative with – spend a bit of time creating the perfect quiz then get your family or friends online to see who triumphs!
 
There is a thread which I will keep adding to on the Facebook page which has lots of links to free games and activities so you can always download games there and then play with friends online.
 
So whether you are playing online with Cards or Die or getting together online with family and friends – keep in touch, stay safe and look after yourselves. Hope to see you at The Winchester for a game when all this has blown over.

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Death on the Cards – Agatha Christie

Unveil and apprehend the murderer in this clever sleuthing card game. 
Plays 2-6
Age 10+
Playing Time 30mins

“It is the brain, the little grey cells on which one must rely. One must seek out the truth within” Poirot.
 
In Death on the Cards you must work together, exercising your little grey cells to identify the murderer! The game is well packaged with charming art work. You might argue that there are more important factors in choosing games but a literature related pun, a sturdy box with a magnetic closer and pretty cards go a long way in my book! 
 
The game plays very differently depending on the number of players. With 5 or 6 players you have both a murderer and an accomplice to uncover. With just 2 players, you know who the murderer is from the get-go so it’s just a straightforward but frenetic game of cat and mouse. I was pleasantly surprised that it works just as well with any number of people. It’s a different game but just as much fun. 
 
The basic premise is the same however many players you have – the murderer must exhaust the draw pile to reveal the ‘Murderer Escapes’ card which depicts them gleefully skipping off into the distance with nary a care in the world. Meanwhile the detectives try to prevent them from depleting the draw pile. In addition, should the murderer reveal everyone’s secrets the murderer wins while should the murderer’s secrets be revealed the murderer loses.

Secrets. 
Each player is given 3 secrets at the beginning – you might not be the murderer but you’ve all committed various social faux pas and we all want more details on your involvement in the ‘vicarage incident’ . When all 3 of your secrets are revealed you are frozen out of the game unless you are the murderer in which case you’ve been rumbled. If the murderer succeeds in revealing all three of everyone’s cards then they have escaped. Once they’ve heard all your despicable secrets they’ll be able to set up a lucrative career as a blackmailer so you need to work together to make sure that definitely doesn’t happen. 
 
You must closely observe the other players in order to work out who the murderer is. Are they deliberately drawing lots of cards? What kinds of cards are they playing? What cards are they discarding? Or are you just going to go on instinct? As Christie herself once said “Instinct is a marvellous thing. It can neither be explained nor ignored”.
 
The Detectives
There are 7 different detectives that you can use to force others to reveal secrets. To play them you need to collect a matching set or use the Harley Quinn wild card with them. And, once played you can add to an existing set in order to repeat that action. They’re all there: Poirot and Marple of course, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford and my new favourite – Lady Bundle Brent. Each detective acts slightly differently and each card has a different quotation from that character. It is nice touches like this that really make the game for me. 

Other actions
The actions are cleverly balanced to benefit either the murderer or the detectives. For instance Look into the Ashes cards allow you to choose a card from the discard pile while the Early Train to Paddington allows you to move six cards from the draw pile to the discard pile: each of these affects the speed the draw pile reduces thereby either abetting or hampering the murderer’s escape. 
 
The Point Your Suspicions card is a fun card which, timed well, can have a significant impact on the game. When played all players point to the person they suspect. Although it just forces the most pointed at player to reveal a secret, there is much to be deduced from people’s actions here. Remember “If you are to be Hercule Poirot, you must think of everything” No clue is too small to be overlooked by your keen detective’s mind. 
 
The Not So Fast, You Fiend! card allows you to counter most actions – a very useful mechanism. Similar to the Nope card people are often familiar with in Exploding Kittens. Each player starts with one of these cards but when to play it? Do you cancel this action or wait in case something even worse is in store for you? 

The game comes with player aid cards which summarise your turn for you. Plus all the cards have clear instructions on and that along with a well written instruction booklet makes the game quick and easy to learn. It’s well worth lingering over the flavour text though. 
 
Agatha Christie’s Death on the Cards is a triumph – it has been a hit at home and at events. Whether you are taking tea at the vicarage, enjoying a train journey, sojourning up the Nile or simply having friends for supper – it really is the perfect addition to your evening.

Come along to a Cards or Die event and have a game with us.  
Find out more about Agatha Christie and the game here: https://www.agathachristie.com/games/death-on-the-cards

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Christmas Gift Guide – Games of course!

I firmly believe that there isn’t an age limit on games. Maybe it was because I was raised on games that proudly boasted their upper limit as 99 years of age. The likes of Spears, Waddingtons and MB knew all along that good games are good for everyone. As adults we don’t play enough. It can sometimes feel like we wait to have children around to give us the excuse to be daft, to let go of our inhibitions and immerse ourselves in play.
Play for the sake of play is perfectly valid but if that isn’t reason enough then think about the other benefits – the escapism of games, the mindfulness of them, the exercise for your brain. 
And it’s not just me who thinks so…
“Play leads to brain plasticity, adaptability, and creativity. Nothing fires up the brain like play.” Stuart Brown
 
“Play stimulates the parts of the brain involved in both careful logical reasoning and carefree, unbound exploration.” Greg McKeown.
 
So for that reason I haven’t organised these by age or, god forbid, gender. If you want to know what sort of games ‘women’ like then I really can’t help you. At all. 
I’ve included a wide variety so there’s just a short description of each game – give me a shout if you want any more details. Each title takes you to a website where you can buy the game – I’ve used amazon a lot for ease but you might want to also look on Zatu Games , Goblin Games or pop into a real life shop like Travelling Man. 
 
Gross Games
These are some of my most popular pub games, it’s not just children who find poo inherently amusing. Quick to learn and fairly quick to play. most of these require a reading age of about 7.
Poo
You are monkeys flinging poo at each other. Use cards to deflect poo aimed at you or to clean some poo off. You’ll need some way of keeping score – I went for brown counters of course!
Easy to play – the instructions are on the cards.
 
Who Did It?
Work out which animal did the poo in the living room! Race to get rid of all your cards by being the quickest to match the last card played and making plausible accusations! A cross between snap and a memory game. No reading is required in this one.
 
Dino Dump. 
This is a swear free take on the classic ‘shithead’, also handily has action cards so you don’t have to begin by trying to remember which card does what! Be the first to get rid of all your cards, try and avoid having to pick up the discard pile. It comes with frankly foul scratch and sniff stickers which I suggest you reserve for the loser. 
 
Gobblin’ Goblins
There’s no reason why gross games can’t be strategic! Be the goblin who gobbles the largest amount of disgusting foods. Collect sets of the same food but watch out for a variety of attacks such as vomiting, stealing and being made to eat your greens. Each goblin has their own special ability. It plays up to 12 goblins.

Fast Reactions
Geistes Blitz
Be the first player to grab the object which is not represented on the card. In the picture below – working from left to right -you would need to grab the grey mouse, then the blue book and the grey mouse again. If you successfully grab the correct object you keep the card, and the person with the most cards wins. This is an addictive and easily portable game. I’m convinced that it uses part of your brain that nothing else uses! It definitely exercises those little grey cells. 

Dobble
Although a lot of people seem to have this it is an absolute classic and I couldn’t do a gift guide and not mention it. It comes in a small round tin, perfect to pop in your bag or in someone’s stocking. Similar to snap but each card features a number of images – you must match one of these with one on another card. You can also get themed versions – we have Star Wars Dobble and the Harry Potter version is on my Christmas list. There are 5 mini games which are entertaining with children or wine but probably not both! 
 
Zonkers
A frantic dice rolling game for up to 4 people. You each get a set of dice which you race to place on the matching dice images. First to get rid of their dice shouts Zonkers! calling an end to that round. But watch out – fastest doesn’t always mean best. A test of observation, speed and strategy.
This also comes with a number of mini games so it’s great value!

Longer, thinkier games.
Forbidden Island
A co-operative game where you work together to collect the treasure you came for and escape the island. But the island is slowly flooding which hampers your efforts. If you are thinking of trying co-operative games then this is a great starting point. 
If you have enjoyed this then you might want to try Forbidden Desert or Sky as these are similar but more challenging. 
 
Ticket to Ride London
A short version of the classic Ticket to Ride Europe which was an instant hit and remains a best seller. Collect cards to enable you to place buses on routes across London. You score bonuses for linking certain places and for completing set routes. A nice strategic game with lovely pieces – who doesn’t love playing with tiny buses! It takes about 30 minutes whereas you can be playing the other versions for over an hour. So it’s a good one to try and there are loads of variations of this available so if you enjoy this you may want to collect some of the others. 
 
Ominoes
Simply roll, move and place your dice to make sets of four or more. A lovely tactile strategy game which like all my favourites is quick to learn but gives you lots to think about. There’s also plenty of opportunity to thwart other people’s plans which is always satisfying.

Sleuthing
What could be more christmassy than donning your deerstalker or firing up your little grey cells. Settle down with a nice milky drink and these two classics:
221B Baker Street
A favourite in our house. Work your way round the board collecting clues about the crime. Each case is different and you must race your opponents to solve it and get back to Scotland Yard with the solution. Some of the clues are a little cryptic and some are quite tricky. Fine for adults but children may need some guidance or to team up.
Agatha Christie’s Death on the Cards
You have to work out who the murderer is by playing a variety of detective and other tactical cards. Then, once you have uncovered the murderer you must prevent them skipping off into the sunset. The murderer meanwhile will be doing everything they can to freeze you out of society and make good their escape. With 5 or 6 players the murderer has an accomplice. Also works brilliantly as a two player game where the murderer is trying to escape while the detective tries to catch them. 

Words
Pass The Bomb
Each card has three letters on, turn over a card and trigger the bomb which will begin to tick loudly! Say a word which contains the letters shown (roll the die to determine whereabouts in the word they must be) and pass the bomb on to the next person. Continue to pass it with each player saying another word containing those letters until the bomb explodes (it has a variable timer so you can never know when it will go!). A great game for big groups – loads of wordy fun.
 
Fletter Fuse
A speedy game of word recognition. Turn over the cards and shout out as you see the words appear. There are bonus cards for getting targeted word lengths and flettered cards for if you slip up under pressure! You can also push your luck by waiting for a longer word and hoping no one else has spotted your word! Each letter has a different value. At the end of the game you add up your pile of claimed words and the person with the most points at the end wins. 
 
Wibbell++
Wibbell++ is not just one word game but a whole system of games. There are instructions for 6 different games in the box but there are many more on the website – they will have you creating stories, making up funny phrases, racing to grab as many cards as you can by matching symbols and letters and outwitting your opponent by being the first to come up with a word containing the revealed letters. 

Quiz
Logo Game
This is always a popular game at my events. This quiz is all based on logos and product knowledge including some picture rounds. You can play up to 6 people individually or play in teams if there are more of you. I have the classic logo game but there are lots of versions available including a christmas one. 
 
Are you dumber than a box of rocks?
The rocks have been around a long time and their knowledge is immeasurable. Pit yourselves against them in this fun trivia quiz game. Work together to come up with an answer of 0, 1 or 2 and then give the rocks in the box a shake to see what they think. The double sided rocks have a 1 painted on one side while the other is blank, so they can land displaying 0, 1 or 2. One of the things I like about this is the quirky questions and the fact that the answer is not just given but explained so you might not start out smarter than a rock but hey at least you are learning which is more than can be said for the rocks!
 
Colour Brain
This is another of my most popular games. The answers are all colours and each player has a hand of coloured cards. Reveal the question then place the coloured card or cards that you think are correct face down. When everyone is ready you reveal your answers. I think the idea that you can make an educated guess rather than being unable to answer really appeals. It also has a nice catch up mechanic allowing you to target the lead player with a colour catcher card so you can (for one turn only) steal some of an opponent’s cards. 

Charades based games
Gamely Games have a trio of fabulous games two of which fall into this category and can be played in teams. Soundiculous has you mimicking the sounds of various things – fridges, monkeys, karate! while everyone races to be the first to accurately identify the sound. 
In Randomise you select three cards (A, B and C) choose a number 1-3 which gives you a phrase like a confused dinosaur selling lemonade.This can then be communicated through description, charades or through pictures.
The pretender is a social deduction game where you must work out who is only pretending to know what the key word is.
All of these come in lovely small boxes – perfect for posting or for stocking fillers. 

My wishlist 
This seems like a good as place as any to let the big man know what I would like for Christmas this year. Considering I have been exceptionally well behaved this year I would very much like the following:
Splendor – I’m really enjoying Jaipur and if I remember correctly this is similar but plays 4 instead of 2. Nice and strategic with shiny gems!
Muse Card Game This sounds similar to Dixit and the art work looks absolutely beautiful (can you also send me some people who would play this with me as most of my family will hate it with a passion usually reserved for their disdain for Dixit) and Staccups because it looks like crazy fun and I can imagine the whole family playing this over Christmas.
 
If you’ve got loads of games or just don’t know where to start, why not buy a gift voucher for a games night. Instead of buying more stuff, why not buy an experience, some time together, memories. Book Cards or Die to run a games night for you – we read the rules and bring the games. All you have to do is get the gang together and tell us where and when! Prices start from £8.95 per person.

I hope this has provided you with some inspiration. And if you do fancy treating me to a festive cuppa or a slice of cake, here’s my Ko Fi link! 
 Join us at a Cards or Die event. 

2019-10-19 19.12.27

Sub Terra II: Inferno’s Edge – choose your own path.

Part One
 
From the makers of Sub Terra comes an adventure like no other…
Well, actually it’s a bit like Indiana Jones – if instead of triggering a large rolling rock, Indie had unleashed a terrifying torrent of red hot lava. Between 1 and 6 intrepid cavers will adventure through underground tunnels, dodging hazards, outrunning guardians and working together to ‘liberate’ the ancient artefact – no doubt they will put it safely in a museum where it can be ‘properly appreciated’. 
 
In true Indiana Jones style as soon as you lift the artefact even a fraction, it all starts to go wrong – the volcano shudders and one wrong step now will see you fleeing for your lives ahead of lava which cascades through the pathways obliterating everything in its path.
 
The name of the game is misleading – it sounds like a sequel but it isn’t, which is just as well as ‘sequels suck’ (remember Randy Meeks in Scream?). 
 
Now then – for your own path: 
I’ve played Sub Terra – go to Part 3 
I haven’t played Sub Terra – go to Part 2 
But, is it a sequel though – go to Part 4 

Part 2
 
It doesn’t matter at all that you haven’t played Sub Terra. This is a stand alone game – the mechanics of the game are reasonably quick to get to grips with even if you haven’t tried this kind of game before. The instruction book is clear and helpful. 
 
To begin with you must choose your adventurer. The characters offer a very pleasing range of ages, genders and ethnicity and to be honest that in itself is a selling point for me. In a household of three females and two males I get seriously fed up of having to be an old man because all the female characters have gone. There are 10 to choose from – a pleasing number for a 6 player game. This straightaway gives you a number of replays with varying combinations of special abilities. Each character has two abilities such as healing, protecting others, sniping enemies, blowing up walls, rerolling dice. Some of the abilities last all game and some have limited use.
 
On your turn you take two actions which combine revealing tiles, moving through the tunnels, healing, picking up items, attacking enemies and digging your way out through collapsed tunnels. If, after you have taken your actions you decide to take another action you can, but it will cost you a health point. 
 
Then comes the hazard phase- roll the die to learn your fate. There are many hazards that can befall you in the tunnels from spike traps to poison arrows that can fire over an alarming distance, cave ins, red hot lava to unsure footing which can also cost you health. And then there’s the Guardians. The Guardians have been appointed to guard the treasure – they are not on board with your museum plans. At the end of each round they advance towards the nearest explorer and if you roll the dice badly they will kill you. They’ve been down there years though and between you and me, I don’t think they’re as sprightly as they used to be. Sometimes they reach your tile but are too knackered to attack until the next turn giving you time to counter attack while they lean on the wall, panting. 
 
Each round you count down towards the eruption of the volcano. But once you lift the artefact from its place everything intensifies. Instead of rolling one hazard die you now roll two, and if the volcano tracker still has spaces left you count down twice as fast. You have to reveal all the tiles and collect three keys in order to reveal and pick up the treasure and then still escape so timing is everything.
 
Once the volcano tracker is on zero, as soon as someone rolls hazard dice for lava, the volcano erupts. If you haven’t already grabbed the treasure, it’s game over. If you are in possession of the artefact, you need to run! Every time someone carelessly rolls lava you must flip over all tiles that are adjacent to lava. Yes ALL adjacent tiles – it cascades. And the worst thing is that the opening tiles are four tiles in one! It’s alright though, if you’re lost to the fiery fury of the caverns you still get to roll the dice so you can still intensify everyone else’s misery. After all – just because you’re dead shouldn’t mean you get overlooked.
 
The game looks gorgeous too – there are nice touches like the trace of the disintegrated bridge on the flip side of the tile. Last time I checked kickstarter there was talk of ultraviolet touches.
 
Go to The Conclusion

Part 3
 
Randy Meeks resident film critic in Scream postulated that successful sequels must stick to 3 rules: 
“1. the body count is always bigger
2. the death scenes are always much more elaborate – more blood, more gore…
3. never, ever, under any circumstances, assume the killer is dead”
 
Inferno’s Edge definitely delivers on the intensifying of the death scenes. As well as the cave-ins we survived in Sub Terra, now we have to face spiked traps and spring loaded spears which fire an impressive distance. The cowardly reveal won’t save you here. You might as well explore – leaping fearlessly into the unknown.
 
So far our body count has been bigger. The lava surges at an alarming rate spilling over onto other tiles. You’ll never be more glad you chose the Rogue with their bonus sprint action!
 
As for rule 3, while the horrors of version 1 can leap out at you at any point, the lava and the cave ins even destroys their equivalent here. So it doesn’t deliver the full horror of the constantly resurrecting killer but to be fair it’s just as well – you’ve got enough on trying to run faster than lava. 
 
Despite this compelling evidence it isn’t really a sequel as such. The game does have many of the same basic mechanisms making it quick to learn. It is still co-operative and you are still trying to escape a cave system while fleeing from some of the same kinds of hazards. If you enjoyed Sub Terra then you will certainly enjoy this twist on it. It is different enough and fleeing the oncoming lava is both thrilling and infuriating!
 
On your turn you can still take two basic actions – for instance for one action you can reveal a tile which just involves placing it down or you could explore where you reveal a tile and immediately step onto it. 
 
There are keys that you need to collect on certain tiles – without those you can not retrieve the treasure so there is a clear time pressure evident. Every round you count down to the eruption of the volcano and as soon as you grab the treasure, this intensifies. 
 
One of the most important things for me is that true to form the diversity of the characters is bang on. I had hoped to see the same characters pursuing new adventures but there are 10 different new characters with a variety of genders, ages and races so you should never be in a position where all the female characters have gone. This has happened to me more times than I care to mention. It makes me so happy to see representative characters as standard. Each of the characters has two special abilities – some of the standards are there like health, protecting others, digging through rubble, sprinting. But there are new ones too: bonus reveal actions, re-rolling dice a limited number of times and my favourite – sniping. You can now take out a guardian that is in your line of sight but up to three tiles away. 

And now: 
I didn’t like Sub Terra / there are elements of Sub Terra that I really didn’t like – go to Part 4 
How is it different? – go to Part 5 

Part 4 
 
If you didn’t enjoy Sub Terra I would still urge you to give this a go. It genuinely is different enough and not just because we have different characters with some different abilities to choose from. This is not a sequel, rather it is a stand alone game with some mechanical and stylistic similarities to the original game. 
 But, how is it different? – go to Part 5 

Part 5
 
From the outset, you have a different purpose. Whereas in Sub Terra it was all about escaping, in Inferno’s Edge you must first venture under the volcano to retrieve the treasure and then you must escape. Double the game but it isn’t twice the length, it just packs a lot of action in. 
 
You can still exert yourself to get an extra action but whereas before you rolled to see if you lost a life, this time you just pay for the action with a health point. And if you run out of health points you no longer just lie around and wait for someone to rescue you – once per turn you can crawl painstakingly either towards the exit or the rest of your party. 
 
The cards from Sub Terra are replaced with hazard dice. Pre volcano eruption each player rolls a hazard die at the end of their go, triggering hazards. A new hazard – stumbling – has been added, this costs you a health point. Post volcano eruption you must roll both dice – you really don’t want to stumble now. There’s something satisfyingly tactile and tense about the dice roll that I don’t get from turning cards over. 
 
In Inferno’s Edge it is Guardians rather than horrors that pursue you through the darkness. As well as activating twice at the end of the round, Guardians, who guard the treasure and want to stop you getting your mitts on it, can either move towards the nearest player or spawn depending on your die roll. They move in such a way that sometimes you get a stay of execution – a guardian will have exhausted themselves getting to you and waits for the next turn to launch an attack. I like to imagine them leaning on a wall, panting whilst breathlessly ranting about treasure and certain death. You can also destroy guardians by attacking them and rolling 4 or more as long as you do it before they get their breath back. 
 
You get the same high quality components and the same style of artwork which I really like but this time the pathways are very clear – especially when you flip to the lava side of the tiles. I know this was a concern raised about the Sub Terra tiles.

The Conclusion.
 
Inferno’s Edge is a gripping game. I love the characters and their abilities; the fast flowing lava and the challenge. Each game is different as you are still at the mercy of the randomly generated path and the random hazards. But the balance of abilities that you choose gives you enough strategic power over the game to let you believe that if it wasn’t for that one decision (usually made by someone else, I hasten to be add) you’d be attending a special preview night at a museum somewhere in London where people marvelled at your tales of bravery and derring do. While, in the wings some guardians wait to strike and take back what is rightfully theirs in what could well be the sequel…. just as soon as they’ve got their breath back…
 
Live now on Kickstarter

 You can play this now at a Cards or Die event. 

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FlickFleet: The Uprising

Before we get on to the nitty gritty details of the game there are some things I need to tell you. When I moved in with my partner I had 150 board games, me and my partner had lots of books. They all lived happily together, nestled on the book shelves. As my games collection expanded, our book collection underwent several culls. Now that I have amassed more than 350 games there is not only the issue of space but also of time. 
 
New games arrive, the shelves groan and my family look forward to evenings of me bumbling through rule books and games so that people who come to my events receive seamless teaching because I’ve worked out all the lumps, bumps and confusion on them. They get to play the games where half way through I say ‘Oh no, you can’t do that’ or the game suddenly and unpredictably ends just before they make their killer move.
 
When I’m out at events leaving them to a peaceful board games evening when they can play familiar games, I have an uncanny knack of taking with me the exact games they were planning to play. Good to know me and my games can still annoy them even when I’m not there!
 
So you can understand why, when I have a pile of new games occupying the shelf my partner’s books used to live on and I want to learn one – sometimes the response is less than favourable. And so it was with FlickFleet. The shiny box arrived with all the lovely handcrafted pieces. I set it up and played it a few times on my own and while that was fun I didn’t feel confident teaching it at all. I just couldn’t entice anyone into playing with me until Saturday, when finally Mark caved in…
 
After playing one game of FlickFleet with me mis-teaching bits and re-reading the rule book (which by the way is excellent – thorough and clear) Mark said this:
‘Next month I’m going to spend my war hammer budget on my own copy of this so I can play it if you take it to events’. 
To fully appreciate this endorsement the only other thing you need to know is that my partner’s plastic crack addiction is advanced. This accolade despite the mis-teaching and sudden ending!
 
To be clear, I am thoroughly enjoying FlickFleet. It’s beautifully crafted and tactile which I like and the mechanic – flicking the dice at other crafts but also needing to roll certain numbers when you flick – is loads of fun. For Mark it was the theme that really captured him. While I was lining up my shots he was visualising the collapse of empires. As I learnt the rules he illuminated them with scenes from various Sci-Fi films. At points I had no idea what the film was but he was gesticulating and painting the scene so passionately I didn’t have the heart to say. 
 
And then there’s our playmat. My current playmat/ tablecloth/ backdrop for top quality games photography has been the subject of some derision and I have long maintained it is perfect for every occasion. Encouraged by his new favourite game my partner has treated us to a space themed background – a thrifty alternative to playmats he bought some black oilcloth and sprayed it lightly with silver. (I knew those war hammer paints would come in handy for something). Behold… a stellar backdrop!

Why we love it so.
 
At its core FlickFleet is a dexterity game. This means it can be frustrating – one flick can destroy an enemy while a seemingly identical flick sees you spinning off the table and into deep space. I think playing it on the same surface while we all got used to it would have given it more predictability which would have been good for my son. He was initially very keen on the game but after playing it on a different surface each time he became disheartened. There are various scenarios in the instruction book and one I found both fun and useful was the target practice one. Each of you competes to avoid articles and be the first to destroy three fighter wings. This was loads of fun and allowed me plenty of practice to hone my technique. There are a good number of scenarios in the instruction book but you can go rogue and just battle by using the strength scores in the book. Or, you can mix and match. There’s really endless flexibility with this game. I enjoy dexterity challenges and I want an element of unpredictability in my games – as Picasso once said ‘If you know exactly what you are going to do, what’s the good in doing it?’
 
But it isn’t just dexterity, there is loads of strategy to weigh up too. From your choice of fighters at the beginning – do you choose one massive ship or lots of small ones? Should you play defence or just attack with all guns blazing? Do you deploy three less accurate lasers or one catastrophic nuke? The choice of dice here is genius – the lasers are represented by a D10 which is literally less accurate when you flick it while the nukes are a good old cuboid D6. All of the types of ships move differently too so some are easier to move but then quicker to blow up. So from the moment you start setting up the game you are already playing strategically. 
 
Each turn you have two actions, you can move, shoot, call on reinforcements, generate new shields or do vital repairs. But all of these choices are reliant on parts of the ship working properly. Blow up the engine and your opponent is stuck, blow up the shield generator and it’s much harder to fix the shields. So every turn, you are making decisions and trade offs based on the position and condition of your ship and that of your opponent. 
 
So to summarise: it looks gorgeous, feels lovely, challenges you in both strategy and dexterity, has finally made me acknowledge that Cath Kidston fabrics are not the best backdrop for all occasions and inspired a war hammer addict to save their pocket money for something completely unrelated. FlickFleet is nothing short of miraculous.

Live on Kickstarter NOW!
 
If you’d like to play FlickFleet with any or all of the expansions come along to a Cards or Die event. You can subscribe to the newsletter below to make sure you never miss any events.