Author: Michele

pic2040714_mdNight of the Grand Octopus
Iello, 2014

I was at my FLGS for International tabletop day, when I spied Night of the Grand Octopus on a 50% off table. I had seen ads for it, liked the way it looked, and since it was from Iello, who has a good reputation for fun light games, thought I would pick it up. Some friends also bought a copy and they sat down to play. From the laughter at their table, it looked like I had gotten a good deal. When time allowed, I joined in with them to see what it was like.

Night of the Grand Octopus has nice solid pieces, pretty art, and is simple to learn and play. Each player controls an “offspring” pawn (large) and a “cultist” pawn (small). The object is to be the first to collect artifacts on the University board in order to summon “Him” to earth. You collect an artifact if you can get to a room that has an artifact, and no one else’s offspring or cultist is there to stop you. You use a “command clock” to show where your two pieces will move. You move the large hand on the clock to show which room your offspring will travel to, and the small hand to show which room you will move your cultist to. You are trying to block others with your offspring while trying to get your cultist alone in a room. The more players you get, the harder this becomes. Essentially, this game is a game of random movement, trying to outguess where your opponents will go. Sometimes you’ll be right, most times you’ll be wrong. If your cultist ends up in the room with an opponent’s offspring, you lose life. You only have life equal to the number of players, plus one.

This game goes very quickly, playing in about 10 minutes. As we played, I kept telling myself, there has to be more to this game, some strategy, some… well… anything. But alas, there is not. This is a very simple game. So simple that it is almost boring after the first couple of plays. It is simply a guessing game. You guess right, or you guess wrong. Guess wrong too many times, and you die and are out of the game.

That being said, this might make an excellent drinking game. Instead of losing lives, taking a drink when your cultist encounters an offspring. I can see that becoming more enjoyable the more you play, because you’ll care less about the simple gameplay. *Not an endorsement for underage drinkers or binge drinking.* Just an observation.

So if you’re looking for a REALLY light, and I do mean REALLY light, totally random game, to burn a couple of minutes, Night of the Grand Octopus might be good for you. If you want any substance tho, look elsewhere.

pic1807099_mdThe World Needs a Jetpack Unicorn
Wyrd Miniatures, 2013

Which is cooler?

A glow-in-the-dark pet unicorn that not only flies you to work and school at super speed, but can project movies from its horn and recite any song lyric ever from memory?

OR

A jetpack that runs on  nacho cheese and bakes your favorite cookies as it rushes you to an appointment with your brusque-yet-surprisingly-sensitive masseur, Marvin?

This a lightweight funny card game in the spirit of Apples To Apples and Once Upon A Time. Each person in turn is the “judge”. All players have a hand of strange “Transmog Words”.  The judge has a card with a scenario like the one above. The player on his/her left gets to argue for the first option, the player on his/her right, the second, using one of the cards from their hand in their argument. The person who best convinces the judges will win their played card. Each card has a point value with more difficult words being worth more points. After a set number of rounds, the player with the most points wins the game.

What I love about this game: The creativity and humor. You can run on as long as you like in your argument, as long as you use one word from your hand. Can be hilarious and very entertaining.

What I don’t love about this game: If you have a lot of people playing, you spend a lot of time watching and not participating, and it isn’t that great for the non-storytelling set. And like all games of this nature, is solely dependent on the whim of the judge.

But if you like this sort of storytelling, this is a very funny, enjoyable lightweight game. And can be hugely entertaining for the right crowd.

pic828598_mdBetrayal at House on the Hill
Wizards of the Coast, 2004, 2010

Betrayal at House on the Hill is the ultimate haunted house mystery game. The game starts as with cooperative play, as the players explore the house, creating the game board by placing tiles for each room in the house. As the players explore, the encounter creepy events, find useful items, and uncover evil omens. When the players discover an omen, they make a haunt check by rolling 6 dice (each as 2 blank sides, 2-one pip sides, and 2-two pip sides). They must meet or exceed the number of omens on the table or the “haunt” happens. As players uncover more rooms and discover more omens, this roll gets harder, and eventually someone will fail. Each player has a character card and stats which tell them how many dice they will use for their rolls, and determines their speed of movement through the house. Will you play the mad scientist, the little girl or the brute? There are 12 characters to choose from (6 double sided character cards).

When the haunt happens, based on the room that the player was in, and the omen that happened, the game takes a sinister turn as one of the players at the table becomes the betrayer. A chart in the book determines the scenario that will play out from that point. The betrayer takes the betrayer tome and discovers their goal for the rest of the game. The rest of the players take their scenario book and determine their goals for the rest of the game. The gameboard gets set up with scenario specific detaila and the game restarts with the player to the betrayer’s left and play continues until either the players or the betrayer meets their winning conditions.

Between the variations possible through the large number of room tiles, and the over 50 scenarios that can happen, the re-playability of this game is near infinite. You may play the same scenario more than once, but due to room configuration, missing rooms, different number of players, item discovery and other variables, it will play out very differently every time. The creepy wording of the cards and the thematic rooms give a fantastic horror movie feel. If you like creepy horror, then this game is sure to become an instant hit that you will bring out again and again. It is well-balanced and almost every game is a tense race to the finish. It is possible and even probable that your character may perish during the game. We usually play with the house rule that if you die before the haunt happens, you may turn your character over and start again with the other character. That way everyone stays in the game until the fun really starts to happen.

It can happen that the haunt roll fails early, which gives the betrayer a distinct advantage, but this doesn’t happen often and can still offer a very fun experience for the players. Want an extra creepy game? Play by candlelight in a dank basement, at night. This is an awesome game that is a must have in any game library, and is especially fun to bring out for a Halloween party. A definite MUST play!

pic592086_mdMystery Rummy
US Games Systems, Inc. 1998

Do you like to play Rummy, but are bored by the same old game every time? Check out this series of Rummy games. In Mystery Rummy, you not only play rummy, but are also trying to be the first to solve a mystery. You can find Mystery Rummy in five variations: Jack the Ripper, Jekyll and Hyde, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Al Capone and the Chicago Underworld, and Escape from Alcatraz. First published in 1998, these games have been a favorite of mine since their first appearance.

By playing victim, scene, suspect and evidence melds, you build a case against your suspects to convince the authorities of their guilt. Whichever suit has the most cards played when the player goes out is the guilty party, but if all the victims come out first, then the murderer escapes!

Mystery Rummy has a lot more strategy than regular rummy. You want to build your case, but can’t take too much time, and have to manipulate the game to make sure your suspect has the strongest case when you go out.  The games cards have nice artwork and great historical detail and are easy to distinguish so game play isn’t interrupted by the historical overlay. And it isn’t just a “skin” on a standard game. Mystery Rummy offers a great thematic variant, with enough standard gameplay to make it easy to learn, and enough theme to make it interesting and more challenging.

Each of the different variants gives a different flavor. Pick up Al Capone for your gangster game fan, Murders in the Rue Morgue for your horror fan or Jack the Ripper for your Mystery Crime fan. Each one gives a slightly different experience, so pick up the whole set for a unique game experience each time. Highly recommended.