FlickFleet Preview

Well.  Let's see if I can remember how to do this.  It's been two years since I've written anything here, but when Jackson Pope, the nice designer of FlickFleet reached out to the wider community asking for reviewers that like dexterity games, my name came up.  (Apparently I haven't done a good enough job convincing everyone else in the world, and thus new reviewers, that dexterity games are truly the greatest kind of game there is.  (Well.  I mean, I guess if you consider sports to be dexterity games, then I'm in the vast majority of the population as a whole in thinking that dexterity games are the best.))  And then I started hearing things like "new dexterity game" and "flick pieces for movement" and all of the normal things that immediately gather my attention.  So here I am.  Wow, that was a long winded way to say, "Hi, I'm back for now, but don't expect this to be a regular thing."

So, what is FlickFleet?  It's a game.  There's flicking and stuff.  The end.  Free game acquired.  Obligation fulfilled.  *Boom*

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A tricked out Destroyer lives up to its name

Ok, fine.  FlickFleet is a new dexterity game about sci-fi spaceship combat.  There are several kinds of ships, but they basically take 2 forms - the ones that have a board where you have to track stuff on the side, and the ones that don't.  The ones that don't have a board associated with them are called fighters, and they start off with three pieces that fit together, and you track everything about them based on how many pieces remain.  When they get to activate, you can move them by flicking them, and then you can attack by setting a die on top of them and flicking it towards your opponent's ships.  You get to shoot once per remaining section, and one type rolls a ten-sided die, the other rolls a six-sided die.  The second kind of ship is a capital ship, and there are a few different types of them.  Each of them has a board to track actions, and they can fire (some of them can do this in two ways and thus can use two actions for it), some can launch fighters, they can repair hull damage and/or shields, and they can move.  They also don't always get hit when you hit them with a die, because what face the die ends up on determines if they're hit.  A six-sided die always hits, but the ten-sided one only hits on 1-6 (unless you had shields, in which case you're also hit on 7-10, because apparently shields are easier to hit).  Players alternate taking turns activating ships until all of them have activated, then they start over.  And they keep doing this until everyone dies.  Wait, that's not right.  Only your opponent has to die.  If you died too, then you played too long.  Sometimes there's a different ending based on the scenario, but for the most part, it's a 'til death kind of situation.

Okay, so I've said there's flicking of ships and dice.  Is there anything different about this one, or is it basically just a clone of all the other flicking games?  Well, there are a few differences that I can point out compared to your standard flicking game.  First, there is the dice flicking element.  The only other game I know of that has dice flicking is Tumblin Dice, but that one is (at least pretends to be) a bit more strategic about it.  In FlickFleet, the dice flicking is meant to be a bit more random; basically, it's meant to be a combination of flicking and die rolling in a single element, where the die roll affects the outcome of the attack.  (That's at least my opinion on it.)  Another difference between FlickFleet and other dexterity games is that there is a strategic component to it in action selection for your (capital) ships.  Deploying fighters at the right time, and balancing when to move, attack, and heal can affect the outcome of the game (though this element isn't as crucial as being good at the dexterity element of it, as you probably would have assumed).

A heated battle in the works.

There are a couple other things I also want to point out before I get into the "who would enjoy it" part of the post.  First, you actually have to have some control with your flicking in this game, which I find as a pleasant added challenge.  Specifically, if you flick your ship off the edge of the board, it just flat out dies.  So, don't do that.  But, when you are flicking a die at a ship, if the die goes off the edge of the board, then it's a "wild shot" and misses completely.  So, you shouldn't just blast it as hard as you can, like you might be tempted to do in some other games like PitchCar or Catacombs.  Second, FlickFleet has a handful of scenarios (four in the prototype that was sent to me, but I think they're planning to expand that online after launch).  The scenarios let you have a little bit of variety in how you play.  They don't really change the crux of the game, but they add enough variance that it doesn't feel like you're doing the exact same thing each time, and they can also affect how you approach the strategic element of the game, which is nice.

So, for the part you actually care about.  Who would enjoy FlickFleet?

• Flicking fans that want to add a random factor into the game.  Specifically, if you enjoy dexterity, but want the ability to blame the game if you lose, then this game gives you that scapegoat option by blaming the die flicks.  ("Well, if I hadn't kept hitting you with 9's, I would have clearly won!")
• Dexterity fans that like to be able to customize their game from play to play.  You can customize the setup with scenarios and with building custom fleets (there is a costing system provided for figuring out how to balance the number of ships in each fleet).
• People who want decision flexibility in their turns beyond only moving and/or attacking.  (I've played a game where I decided to never spend an action on movement, because I just fired my weapons the entire game.  And I won.  Take that however you would like.  For added clarity, it was during a scenario where there was a black hole pulling the ships towards the center of the board after each turn, so I was slowly moving - just not using actions for it.)
• Dexterity fans in general.  Let's be honest.  This is who the game is meant for.

Getting ready to shoot.  This "should" be an easy shot.

Who should avoid it?

• People who hate dexterity games.  But, if you hate dexterity games (the best genre of games as we've discussed earlier), did you really get this far in the post?
• People who want instant setup of their dexterity games.  This one takes a couple minutes to find the pieces and get the fleets prepared.  That's the cost of the customizability.  (Basically, the setup is more like Catacombs, where you have to grab all the pieces you'll need for the scenario you're playing, and not like Crokinole, where you put the board on the table and immediately start playing.)
• People who want the person who is better at dexterity games to win every time.  If you are just plain better at flicking than your opponent, then yeah, you'll win most of your games of FlickFleet.  But if you hit them with a 7-10 every time you flick the die, you'll lose.  
• People who believe "when it's dead, it's dead" about destroying their opponent.  Since I only briefly mentioned this earlier, I should elaborate now.  The capital ships have shields.  One of the actions you can take with them is to repair your shields.  This can lead to situations where a ship keeps healing all of it's damage, and their opponent feels like they can't finish it off.  More specifically, it can also lead to situations where their opponent can't finish it off (if they are only firing a single shot each round; just concede, my friend).  Not everyone will love the ability to repair the shields.  Though, frankly, its easy enough to create a scenario where there's some kind of "spatial anomaly" that prevents shields from being repaired, if you really hate shields coming back.

Overall, I enjoyed my plays of FlickFleet.  That shouldn't surprise anyone.  If I find a lot of dexterity gamers in my gaming group, then I could see it continuing to hit the table, but for people that aren't partial to dexterity games, I typically go with goofier ones like Coconuts when I occasionally convince them to dip their toe in the beautiful waters of dexterity.  So my continued play of it will depend pretty heavily on who I am playing with.

If FlickFleet sounds like something you'd like, then check it out on Kickstarter.

I would like to thank Jackson Pope of Eurydice Games for sending me a preview copy of FlickFleet.

Ice Cool Review

Every now and again, a new game comes along that looks a bit different and draws me back in to say a few words about it.  Most recently, that game was Ice Cool.

In Ice Cool, players take charge of a penguin in a game of tag.  Each round, one player plays the role of "catcher" and the other players are "runners."  The catcher's goal is to hit each of the other players' penguins.  The runners, meanwhile, are trying to successfully collect 3 fish by going through 3 doorframes on the board (and they collect a fish card every time they successfully go through a doorframe with one of their fish on it).  Once the catcher has hit all of his opponents' penguins, or a runner has caught all 3 of their own fish, the round is over.  At this point, the catcher takes a fish card for every runner that he successfully ran in to, plus one for being the catcher.  Then, a new round is started with another player taking the role of catcher.  Whoever has the most points worth of fish cards (each card ranges from one to three) at the end of the game wins.

The penguins are weighted on the bottom

Clearly, the best part of Ice Cool is the wonky penguins.  The penguins aren't weighted like a "normal" flicking thing.  I've played PitchCar, Catacombs, Crokinole, Bisikle, and basically every other flicking game that I can get my hands on, and this is the biggest difference between Ice Cool and those games - the penguins are not symmetrical.  What this means is that you can (try to) intentionally make the penguin do odd things - like jump over a part of the board, or make an arced shot to go around obstacles.  Now, I am not very good at this, but I have done it often enough to envision someone getting very good with these trick shots.

The next pro that I have for Ice Cool (aside from it being a dexterity game, and thus great fun by default) is that the one-point fish cards aren't complete disappointments.  In most games where you get a random score card for doing well, the lowest card sucks, and you just stare at it in irritation when you collect it.  In Ice Cool, there's a minor bonus prize for collecting ones - at the end of your turn, you can flip over two cards of value one to get another flick.  (You don't lose the points, either.)  I'd still rather collect three point cards, but the extra flick can definitely be very valuable.  (Though, it's still annoying when you collect them as the catcher at the end of the final round.)

Box in a Box picture

I would have to say that my biggest complaint with Ice Cool is something that only ever existed in my mind.  When I heard about the game, and saw pictures of it, one of the pictures I saw was the "Box in a Box" picture.  Now, what this picture is trying to communicate is that inside the box, there are several sub-pieces that fit together.  (In fact, you take these out and form the playing area, with walls and such.)  However, in my mind, I saw the picture and thought, "oh my gosh - how awesome is that!  A flicking game where the playing surface isn't completely flat, but has different angles and stuff!"  That's not a thing - the playing surface is flat.  So, whereas I was horribly disappointed with this, it's not likely something that will bother anyone else!

Does my personally being very bad at making jump shots land where I want count as a con?  No?  Oh.

Overall, I give Ice Cool a 8.0/10.  It's not going to replace PitchCar for me, but it does have enough of a difference to it that I can see myself coming back to it (not to mention that it's much lighter and faster to set up).

I would like to thank Brain Games for providing me with a review copy of Ice Cool.

Coconuts Review

So, I heard that there was a game where you each have a monkey catapult and you shoot coconuts.  I was sold.  I thought about that being the extent of my review, but since I was given a copy from the publisher, I figured I should say a few more things about the game.

In Coconuts, each player is given two cards, a pile of rubber coconuts, and a plastic monkey catapult.  At the start of any player's turn, someone can play one of the cards from their hand (but once a card is played, it's out of the game).  When it is your turn, you take a coconut and attempt to shoot it into one of the cups on the table.  If you make it in a cup (that you hadn't already claimed), then you get to take that cup and place it in front of you.  If you claim a red cup, you get to take another shot.  Once a player has six cups in front of him, he is the winner.  Alternately, if the players run out of coconuts by shooting them all into cups (after you shoot your initial pile of coconuts, you can use any of the ones still in play), then the player who has the most coconuts in the cups that they control wins.

The awesome monkey catapult

So, if this isn't your first one of my reviews to read, you're probably aware that I'm in love with dexterity games.  But, what makes a good dexterity game is generally that it is ridiculous.  Coconuts knocks that criteria out of the park.  Not only do you have monkey catapults (yes, I've legitimately used that phrase twice in this review now), but you also have odd shaped rubber coconuts (that look very similar to peanut M&M's).  The coconuts themselves add a lot to the game, as they are not all the exact same size, and they're also not round.  They are shaped like coconuts, so one side goes to a bit of a point while the other side is round.  This causes them to fly strangely and to bounce oddly.  It also helps balance the playing field between a person who has played several games and a beginning player.  The person who has played a lot will probably be a little bit better, but the new player will still feel like they have a chance to win.

Another necessity for a good dexterity game is that the components are high quality and will last, as these games get a lot more wear than a standard board game would.  (After all, you're hurtling some of the components through the air.)  I can't speak to the longevity of the components, as I haven't stress tested them, but everything in Coconuts seems very well constructed.  The cups are a thick plastic, the coconuts are a high quality rubber (or plastic - but it feels rubbery), and the monkeys also seem sturdy.  The only piece that I can envision breaking is the spring in the monkey (that makes it a catapult).  But even with that, I haven't had any problems whatsoever with my copy of the game, and I think that it would last for quite a long time.

Those coconuts will be lost... it's just a matter of time.

There are a couple of (incredibly minor) things that I will list as cons for Coconuts.  First, the cards are basically useless.  At least half of the time that I play the game, I don't bother with them.  Since they are each one use, they can basically be used to increase the chances that a player will miss their shot.  But, in my experience, there's a really good chance they were going to miss that shot anyway.  And some of the cards, like the one that lets you blow on their coconut as their shot is in the air, are even more useless.  The cards don't detract from the game, but they seem to be an unnecessary addition just to make the game have "more" to it.

The second "con" is that you're going to lose coconuts.  Be ready to play backstop when you're playing this game, as you'll need to make sure that you catch all of the flying coconuts that your opponents shoot.  Also, they'll wind up rolling under tables, bookshelves, etc.  This is going to happen to you.  It might be better to play at your house if you want to ensure that your game stays complete.  (They did include some extra coconuts in the game, though - apparently at least some play testing went into this!  I think that you can also buy replacement coconuts, as when they sent me a review copy, they sent me a separate bag of extra coconuts right off the bat.)

Overall, I give Coconuts a 9.0/10.  It's a great dexterity game that draws people in to watch it and that everyone who sees it wants to play.  I envision it getting played for years to come.

If you want to read about more awesome dexterity games, check out PitchCar, Riff Raff, and Toc Toc Woodman.

I would like to thank Mayday Games for providing a review copy of Coconuts.

Disc Duelers Review

So, if this is your first one of my reviews - hi.  I'm Josh.  I love dexterity games.  And so, the people that have been checking out my site for a while will in no way be surprised that I sought out a copy of Disc Duelers to try out.

In Disc Duelers (the normal version - there are about 4-5 various ways to play), each player has a handful of characters, represented by discs, that they are using in an epic grudge match against all of their opponents discs.  (Of course, they are mortal enemies, since they were not selected for the same Kickball team years ago...  what?  There's not any real justification for why they want to kill each other?  Oh well.)  Each disc has a corresponding card that represents how many moves and attacks that disc can make, as well as any special rules it might have.  When setting up the game, you will place random (heavy) objects on your table as "terrain."  When moving, you may freely bounce off this terrain, but if you hit a different disc, you will take damage.  When attacking, you will deal damage to any opponents discs that you hit, but you will also take damage for hitting terrain.  Any disc that goes hurtling off of the table (this happens a lot) also takes a point of damage (regardless of turn).  Play consists of players alternating turns with one of their characters until each of the characters have been destroyed (by taking 5 points of damage).  When only one player has any discs remaining, then they have won the epic disc grudge match!

The first pro that I have for Disc Duelers is that I like the concept of my discs being different - representing actual characters that would be fighting in the arena.  It makes sense that they are not all made the same - some people should fight better than others; and others should be able to run around and get in position, hide, etc.  And, though this could be represented in different sized discs (Catacombs does this to an extent), I appreciate both ways of handling this.  Additionally, Disc Duelers lets you draft your characters so that you get at least some say in your army's makeup - thus tailoring it to your skills.

The great elephant terrain!

The next pro that I have for Disc Duelers is how they have built table size and terrain into the game.  In most flicking games, obstacles are either game-specific pieces that you buy (I'm thinking of things like ramps in PitchCar), or you are supposed to make sure that the playing surface is clear.  However, I think that it's a fun and unique element that Disc Duelers suggests for terrain - find things that are lying around near you, and set them on the table as terrain.  And, this doesn't only give your pieces places to hide behind (and change the attacking player's vectors), but the terrain even has rules about it!  If you hit terrain when attacking, or when it's not your turn, then you take damage.  They took things that are lying around your house and added strategic effects to them!  I could see someone being really creative with this and adding ramps and overhangs, and all kinds of sweet terrain to this game.

However, though there are some pretty sweet elements to Disc Duelers, there are also some fairly sizable drawbacks.  First, the rulebook is awful.  For instance - when picking your characters, many of them talk about ranged attacks.  I would estimate that about 1/3 of the characters have a ranged attack of some form.  Want to know how a ranged attack works?  Me too!  The rules don't discuss it.  (If you found this page by searching for that, here is how they work: you use the small red discs and place them near your character and flick them instead of your character's disc.  There is a thread on BoardGameGeek that covers it more thoroughly.)  Aside from the ranged attacks, I remember having to make up or assume things about many other situations that we ran into while playing the game.  (What happens if you shoot your disc off the table, but it has attacks or moves left?  Based on some other rules, we assume that you take a damage and your turn is over.  But, this isn't really clearly covered anywhere.  Are you allowed to move, attack, move, attack, or do you have to do all of your moves together and attacks together?  Do you have to move first?)

A few characters

The next con for Disc Duelers is that it is hard to keep track of who your characters are, and where they are (not to mention who owns all of the other discs).  The discs each have a sticker on them that matches (part of) the art on their character cards.  However, as you play, there will be over 20 different discs on the table in ever changing positions, with each one looking the exact same except for the picture - which may even look similar.  So, when different pieces are hit, it's generally easy to remember whether you own a given piece (though when attacking, you may have no idea which player you're targeting).  However, each turn will probably start with, "Ok, I have these characters alive and untapped - now where are they?"

My final con for Disc Duelers is that items are, for the most part, a neat sounding non-factor.  In the game, you must use each of your characters before you are allowed to re-use a character.  You may also, optionally, play with items.  (In my opinion, using items is the "full" game.)  Whenever a character picks up items, they go on the character that picked them up (hit them with his disc).  This, of course, makes sense.  However, depending on which characters you have used, you will have to live several rounds with your character before you can actually use that item.  If the item sounds good, you will probably be dead by the time that would happen.  Five points of damage does not last very long when you can take three damage from a single attack; and even more if a player uses their first few attacks to barely tap your disc, thus leaving you in position for them to attack you with the rest of their attacks (remember that most characters have three or more attacks).  As I type this, I realize that the repeat attack strategy is also an annoying con.

Overall, I give Disc Duelers a 7.0/10.  It has all of the flicking fun that I enjoy, but it also has a bit more down time than I would prefer in a dexterity game.  That combined with the rulebook keep it out of the upper echelon of dexterity games - at least in my opinion.

If Disc Duelers sounds fun, you should also check out Crokinole, Elk Fest, and Catacombs.

I would like to thank Level 99 Games for providing me with a review copy of Disc Duelers.

Dungeon Fighter Review

Since I regularly try out as many dexterity games as I can, it should come as no surprise that I finally got my hands on a copy of Dungeon Fighter.

In Dungeon Fighter, the players take on a party of heroes that are attempting to navigate their way through a dungeon in order to defeat the ultimate (final) boss!  However, to do so, they will be throwing dice onto a target - often with strange stipulations included.  Throughout the game, the players will go through various rooms.  In each room, they will encounter a monster.  In order to defeat the monster, the players have to deal an amount of damage equal to the monster's health.  How?  By throwing dice onto the bullseye (hopefully).  Specifically, the players have three standard dice (and potential bonus dice).  Each time that they throw a die, it must bounce once before landing on the target, and then (assuming it actually stays on the target) it will deal damage equal to the area on which it lands.  If the die rolls off the target, doesn't bounce before hitting the target, was not thrown legally, or in any other way was a "miss", then the player throwing the die is "hit" by the monster.  After the players have thrown their three standard dice, if they have no bonus dice (or choose not to use any), then they are all hit by the monster again (but they get their standard dice back).  Play continues like this until the monster has been defeated (or all of the players have been).  Then, the players advance to the next level and repeat the cycle of die-bouncing dexterity.  If they manage to bounce their dice all the way to the final boss and defeat him, then they win!  When (yes, when - not if) that doesn't happen, the players lose!

The primary pro for Dungeon Fighter is that it can be highly amusing.  The designers have taken a very simple concept (bouncing dice onto a target) and have forced players to perform this "simple" task in a plethora of quirky ways.  For example, you might have to flick the die off the back of your hand instead of throwing it.  Or you may have to throw the die with your back to the target.  Or throw it under your leg.  Or, you might have to (or choose to) do all three!  Really, this is where the amusement of the game can be found - in being forced to do insane combinations of movements while trying to get the die to land on the right place.  (I think that my most difficult combination was having to flick it off the back of one hand, hit it with my head somehow, and also blow the die while it was in the air.  Or something like that - regardless, it was not a simple matter.)  Doing all of these goofy movements will definitely attract an audience - which may not be the thing you're looking for if you prefer not to be the center of attention!

Throw your dice here.  Easy, right?

The next pro for Dungeon Fighter is that, if you enjoy the game, then there is quite a bit of replayability.  There are several different heroes (9), a lot of monsters (53), and even a few different final monsters (4).  Add in the different pieces of armor and weapons, and you should wind up with different combinations of ways that you are forced to throw the die between any two games that you play.  (Granted, this is all assuming that you are good enough to get very far in the game.  If you die very quickly, then you might wind up just encountering the same green (easy) level monsters repeatedly - and may not even get far enough to buy any gear.)

Though the game has some fun elements to it, I found a few cons as well.  First, the game is incredibly hard - even on easy mode.  (At least to me.  Admittedly, this will differ between any two players.)  I have played this game a handful of times, and I have never beaten it.  Or gotten very close to defeating the final boss.  Or even fought the final boss.  And I have only played it on "easy!"  And I play a lot of dexterity games.  Granted, after the first play or so, I realized that one of the important things in Dungeon Fighter is to be almost on top of the board when you are playing.  Forget all of the things you've learned in other dexterity games about being a "respectable distance" away from the playing surface and such.  If you want to have any chance whatsoever in Dungeon Fighter, you will be throwing the dice from as close as humanly possible.  (I think that this is also why they added the rule about the die having to bounce before hitting the target - they were expecting people to be insanely close to the board.)

Some of the different heroes

The next con that I have for Dungeon Fighter is that there seems to be something "off" about the number of players.  The game really has a party game feel, where you want to have as many people involved as possible.  After all, a group will probably gather around you to watch you make a fool of yourself.  And, in fact, the game supports a respectable six players.  Yet, there are only three standard dice that you can use each round.  So, if you are playing with a lot of players, on any given monster several players will be completely at the mercy of the rest of their party when it comes to whether they will receive damage or not.  I felt like there should be some way of keeping more people involved throughout the game.

The third con that I had for Dungeon Fighter was that the iconography was not very intuitive, and so you often find yourself looking up what various things mean (more so on powers than on different die throwing requirements).  Whereas this isn't really a big deal in most games, one of Dungeon Fighter's appeals is that it is a game that is very quick to teach and to learn - thus you can get people involved very quickly.  Yet, with the iconography causing confusion, it impedes that ability to learn it quickly.

The final con that I will found when playing Dungeon Fighter is that the game grows stale fairly quickly.  This will depend highly on your group, but in the different groups I have played with, there was not much desire to play it repeatedly.  Yes, there was some initial excitement when the game came out, and different people wanted to try throwing the dice (because, naturally, they assumed that they would be amazing at it).  However, pretty quickly people's interest waned - sometimes even before they had finished their first game!  I think that Dungeon Fighter is a very interesting concept, but it feels a bit more like a gimmick than anything else.

Overall, I give Dungeon Fighter a 7.0/10 (I debated giving it anywhere from an 6.0-8.0).  Whereas I don't really mind the gameplay, I felt like the game didn't keep me as actively engaged as I would have liked, and I was very disappointed by how quickly the game felt stale.

If you like dexterity games, you should also check out Toc Toc Woodman, Tumblin Dice, and Micro Mutants Evolution.

Riff Raff Review

In my continuing efforts to try out every awesome sounding dexterity game that comes along, I've unsurprisingly hunted down a copy of Riff Raff!

In Riff Raff, each player has a pile of miscellaneous pieces that he is trying to stack on a boat.  Sound easy?  Well... the boat is leaning.  And, you have to place your pieces on certain sections.  Specifically, each player is given a hand of cards ranging from 1-10, which correspond to the different parts of the ship (four on the lower part, and six on the masts).  Each card can only be used once (hence the game can only last up to ten rounds).  To start each turn, all players reveal a card.  Whoever plays the highest card gets to place a piece on the ship first (in that section), followed by the other players in order.  Players cannot touch the ship or previously placed pieces directly, but are allowed to bump them with their current piece.  If a piece is successfully placed on the boat, with nothing falling off, great!  If pieces fall off, then the active player can attempt to catch them.  Any pieces that are caught are removed from the game - and any fallen pieces that were not caught are added to that player's supply.  The first person to run out of pieces wins the game!  (Alternately, if nobody is very good (which happens regularly), whoever has the least number of pieces after the tenth round is the winner.)

Crewmen holding on for dear life!

The first pro that I have for Riff Raff is that the game is ridiculous.  It can be incredibly fun to watch, as well as to play.  Not only does the boat lean, the boat will often look like it is about to fall over.  And when the boat is at a 45 degree angle, you very well may only have cards left in your hand that have to be placed where they will immediately slide off.  So, your only chance is to try to somehow balance the ship (without knocking everything off), and also balance it with your chosen piece.  You probably will not succeed.  However, everyone nearby will get a kick out of watching you try!  (And you'll probably have fun at it, too.)

The next pro for Riff Raff is that I the components are very well made.  This is not something that I generally care much about, but in a dexterity game, it can be critical.  And, more specifically, the components for Riff Raff are very well made for the design of the game.  It's not "hey, this is a good piece of cardboard," but it is "this piece makes the game play better."  The main piece that I'm thinking of is the ship, and it's balancer.  The box has a cardboard insert that folds up and sits on top of the plastic insert.  The ship sits on top of this (on a wooden ring), but the ship has a large wooden piece with a metal ball attached to the bottom of it.  This metal ball is what causes the ship to lean every direction imaginable without toppling over.  No matter how many of your pieces you set on the top ledge of the ship, it will not topple, because it is weighted well.  So, as I said - the pieces being made well enhances the game, instead of simply being a nice cosmetic aspect.

There are some elements of the game that I'm going to mention that aren't really pros or cons.  One of them is that in my copy of the game, the boat is often leaning from the beginning.  It doesn't really lean very far (maybe 10 degrees), and if you mess with it enough, you can get it to lean even less than that.  I can't decide if this is something wrong with my copy, and it really should stand up straight to start the game, or if this was something intentional to make sure that the game is challenging from the beginning.   And if it is something "wrong" with my copy, I haven't decided if it makes my copy better or worse.

A mostly empty boat

The next thing that I will mention is more of an "I wish they had added this."  The pieces in the game are all very smooth.  In most games, this is a sign of being high quality, and in fact, that is still the case in Riff Raff.  However, with as smooth as the pieces are, and as angled as the boat is, the smoothness of the pieces can increase the challenge.  I wish that the mast pieces were double sided with one side smooth and the other side with a bit more texture.  This would allow the game to be played with two different degrees of difficulty, as the players could choose which side to play with in any given game.

My only real con for Riff Raff is that I dislike the rule about catching pieces.  Or, more specifically, I dislike that you can catch the piece that you are currently placing, and it goes out of the game.  It is far too easy to balance it for half of a second, and then as it falls, catch it.  And catching it that way is almost as good as playing it!  (I say almost, because it is still better to play a piece so that there are more pieces for the next player to potentially knock off.)  I think that this can be fixed with house rules - either everyone has to play with just one hand, or the current piece cannot be caught, or something of that nature.  However, whenever I feel the need to make a house rule, I am disappointed.

Overall, I give Riff Raff an 8.5/10.  It is a fun game with amazing components, and the designers have managed to find something unique within the dexterity genre, for which I applaud them.

If Riff Raff sounds interesting, you should also check out Crokinole, Hamsterrolle, and Catacombs.

Hamsterrolle Review

I would like to thank Jim Flemming for providing the following guest review of Hamsterolle.  Great work, Jim!

Hamsterrolle is a dexterity game designed by Jacques Zeimet and published in 2000 by Zoch Verlag. Hamsterrolle has a very distinctive look, as the game is played on a large, yellow, wooden, wheel.

The inside of the wheel has several black ledges of different sizes that are attached.

Gameplay is simple. Each player gets an assortment of 7 differently sized (and weighted) wooden blocks. On a player’s turn, she will place one of her blocks onto the wheel in either the same compartment as the previous player, or one of the next two. “Next” in this game means in whatever direction of the wheel that the players establish at the beginning of the game so that the wheel will only be turning in one direction. The only other placement rules are that identical blocks can never be in the same compartment, and when placing into a compartment with blocks already present, a player must place her blocks so that its farthest edge is farther in the direction of the wheel than any other block’s farthest edge. That rule sounds much more confusing than it is - here’s a photo:

The photo on the left shows a correct placement for the green block, while the photo on the right shows an incorrect placement.  Note: These photos were taken from the official Hamsterolle rules, which can be found here.

A player can also elect to “pass” wherein she will choose any block from one of the bottom two compartments and place it farther along on the wheel - still following all other placement rules and taking any blocks that fall off the wheel into her stock. This is a good option when a player think she can not place any of her blocks onto the wheel safely, however, it also will probably make the following player’s turn a bit easier, as his choices for which compartment to place into will likely be lower on the wheel.

If any blocks fall off the wheel during a player’s turn, she has to take them into her stock, adding them to any other blocks she has either not yet placed or also knocked off. First player to get rid of all her blocks wins!!

As you can see, the gameplay is extremely simple, but I find this game to be outrageously fun. Like the more mainstream dexterity game, Jenga, Hamsterrolle is all about stacking blocks and not knocking anything over. I enjoy this game much, much more than Jenga. First, the tension in Hamsterrolle builds a lot faster than in Jenga.

In Jenga, players will often have very easy moves for the first 80% of the game. In my experience, once all of the obvious moves are gone, the blocks that are remaining are almost impossible to pull. In Hamsterrolle, the game will often become tense after the first two or three moves. The different shapes and - more importantly - weights of the blocks allow for some very clever and devious play. Placing a tall block vertically on a ledge that is almost parallel to the playing surface can make the next player’s turn very difficult.

The following image pretty much sums up everything I love about Hamsterrolle. The yellow, blue, and purple blocks that are wedged in at the top of the wheel are fantastic. Very few dexterity games will give you moments like that. Also, assuming the next player has to place her block to the right of the wheel, she is going to have a very tough turn. There is no room for her to place in the last compartment (the one with the blue block and the grey cylinder), and the next compartment’s ledge is slanted downward!

The other thing that I like about Hamsterrolle is that it can become quite strategic. Knowing how much certain blocks are likely to roll the wheel, and what block placements will make the next player’s turn difficult make up interesting pieces of a player’s turn. The game also requires little setup time and even less cleanup time.

A minor shortfall of the game is that it can be skill and experience based. If a beginning player’s turn is after a strong player’s turn, the beginning player will very often have a difficult time placing her blocks on the wheel. If the inverse is true, then a “Puerto Rico” effect can occur - a strong player who is following a weak player will have an even easier time ridding herself of her blocks. Of course, this game takes at most 20 minutes to play, and is not deeply strategic by any means - so these issues would probably only arise after the fourth or fifth game of it in a row (and you will play it that many times in a row), and can be easily addressed by simply switching seats or changing turn order.

As far as dexterity games go, I would give Hamsterrolle a 9/10. It is quick to play, easy to learn, and great fun with good tension points. The game’s few weaknesses are not much of an issue in light of the fact that the game plays so quickly.

If Hamsterrolle sounds interesting, you should also check out Bamboleo, Crokinole, and Click Clack Lumberjack.

Tumblin Dice Review

Ok, dexterity lovers, it's finally happened - I've tracked down a copy of Tumblin Dice and reviewed it for your reading pleasure.

In Tumblin Dice, each player gets four dice and attempts to roll/flick/shoot them down the board in an effort to score points.  Once everyone has used all four of their dice, then you calculate scores - each die is worth the number of pips showing times the tier of the board that it landed on.  That's the whole game - you can either play until one player gets a certain number of points, or you can switch out players after each round.

So, if you've been around this site for very long, then you know that I'm a sucker for dexterity games.  And, sure enough, I think that Tumblin Dice is a great offering in the genre.  But, what does it do well?  Well, first I like the fact that you can knock out other players dice - or try to improve the positioning of your own.  And, I like the risk that those moves entail.  For example, if one of the players manages to land one of his dice on a 4x spot early in the round, then they have made themselves a target.  However, in order to get your die far enough down the board to hit him - and with enough force to knock him off the board, you will be flicking your die fairly hard.  And, shots with this much force will often go careening off of the board and be worth nothing.  But, conversely, if you don't shoot your die hard enough, then there's a good chance that all you will wind up doing is getting in the way and making it harder for any of the other players to knock the high scoring die off later.

Tiered board with pegs to hide beside

Another element that I like about Tumblin Dice is how the board is laid out.  I enjoy both the fact that the board is tiered and that there are pegs on the lower tiers.  The tiered approach makes it so that your die will actually change faces (if it was a flat board, everyone would just set their die on a six, and it wouldn't matter if you were using dice, disks, small rocks, or semi-melted popsicles).  And, controlling (or desperately attempting to control) how many times the die will flip over on its way down the board is an important element in scoring higher values.  The other element of the board layout that I like are the pegs - the pegs really allow you a bit of a "safety net" when shooting your dice.  If you can hit a peg (softly), then you can stop your die from falling off the board - and you can protect yourself from being easily knocked off by other players.  This adds an extra element of skill to the game - in addition to just rolling your dice down the board, positioning them well can also help you win the game.

The final pro that I will mention for Tumblin Dice is that it is great to play with anybody.  You can play this with kids, adults, gamers, and non-gamers (I've actually played it with all of these different groups).  Plus, it's great for attracting people (assuming you're trying to do this for some reason).  Set up Tumblin Dice and start playing it, and it basically serves as a people magnet - people will come over to see what you are doing.  And they will want to play it.  And it plays quickly enough that you can let them; but then you might not be playing.  But I guess "you" need to learn to share (in this situation you actually refers to me).

One thing that I will mention about Tumblin Dice that I consider to be "neutral" is that there is definitely luck involved.  Most dexterity games have luck to varying degrees, but in Tumblin Dice it is much more obvious.  As you flick dice, they will topple end over end down the board.  Because of how dice are shaped, this means that they will change faces - and thus values.  I believe that if you become ridiculously skilled at the game, then you will be able to control this... somewhat.  But, there will always be an element of luck involved with it.  And, if you only manage to flick your die to a 2x tier, but it lands on a 6, then you will outscore somebody that lands on a 4x tier but with a 2 showing on the die.  Some people will hate this, others will actually prefer it - but either way you should be aware of it when deciding if Tumblin Dice is a game to check out.

My main complaint

I don't really have any real cons with the gameplay of Tumblin Dice - it is exactly what I expected it to be.  However, I do have one con associated with the quality of my copy of the game.  My copy has a small wooden shard glued to one of the legs that causes the board to be lopsided.  I'm not really sure what caused this.  I'm also afraid to fix the issue, because so far I've been able to get the board to sit flat even with this situation - so I think that the board may not be completely balanced.  Since I've always managed to get the board setup and flat, I will probably just let it be.

Overall, I give Tumblin Dice an 8.5/10.  I really enjoy it, but I don't think that it will replace Crokinole or PitchCar as my "go to" dexterity game.

If you enjoy dexterity games, you might also check out Sorry! Sliders, Catacombs, and Caveman Curling.

Toc Toc Woodman Review

Just in case you're new to the site, there's one genre of game that immediately captures my attention, beckoning me to play every title within it's realm.  (My loyal readers know where this is going.)  Yes - that's right.  I love dexterity games!  So, none of you will be in any way surprised that I asked for a review copy of Toc Toc Woodman. (Though, to be fair, I also like rhyming, so I prefer its alternate name of Click Clack Lumberjack.)

Toc Toc Woodman is simple (because it's a dexterity game). You start the game with a tree made of plastic.  Upon each section (or "ring") there are four pieces of bark that are carefully balanced.  Players alternate taking two turns hitting the tree with a giant plastic axe (that is about the same height as the tree, so the lumberjacks are obviously giants that are trying to make toothpicks with these tiny trees).  Each piece of bark that a player knocks off is worth one point, but each center ring that a player knocks off is worth negative five points.  The game is played until all of the bark is removed from the tree.  (Because that's how real lumberjacks do it - they don't need that junk in the middle of the tree.  It's all about the bark.  I think they're trying to make the world's least efficient piece of armor out of it.)

Now that you know how to play the game, I suppose I'll tell you what is good about it.  First, the components are very well done.  The pieces all slide very easily, which is incredibly important with a game like this.  (It would be awful if you knocked a piece off, but then it wouldn't fall because it got stuck.)  Also, the axe is nice, and, though I joked earlier about how tall it is compared to the tree, the length really does help you swing it at the tree more easily.

A delicate situation

The next pro for Toc Toc Woodman is that the rules are well thought out.  Whereas you would hope (and assume) this for most genres, it's not necessarily a given in dexterity games.  Or, I should say, that it doesn't always matter if the rules are well thought out in dexterity games.  However, the fact that you get to hit the tree twice in Toc Toc Woodman is a really nice touch.  After the first few rounds, the tree will most likely be in a very precarious position.  So, it is helpful that you can use your first swing of the axe to try to stabilize the tree.  If each player was only given one swing, then any time you tried to stabilize the tree, you would just be helping your opponents.  It's nice that this situation has been thought through.  The other aspect of the rules that is well thought out is the scoring.  Since each piece of bark is worth one, and the center rings are negative five (and each ring holds one piece of bark), you lose one point for each entire section you knock over.  If this weren't the case, then once you had a lead, you could try to just knock over whatever was left of the tree.  Again, a fairly small rule, but one that shows that the game designer put some effort into the rulebook.

The other beauty of dexterity games?  There's not really that much to say about them, so I get to keep the reviews short and sweet... and on that note, let's move on to the cons.

The two cons that I have for Toc Toc Woodman are both related to time.  First (this one is pretty trivial), the game is a bit of a nuisance to set up to play, since you have to assemble each piece and then stack it without the pieces sliding back off.  If you're playing with a few players and they're all helping, though, then this is mitigated.

Second (also trivial), the game can take a bit longer than it should if players are overly careful when they play.  So, you have to strike a balance between playing to win (aka not losing points by knocking things over) and actually playing the game.  If you hit the tree, and it moves less than a millimeter, then you're probably playing a bit too safe - pick up the pace so that we can play it five more times, please.

Overall, I give Toc Toc Woodman an 8.0/10.  I really enjoyed it, and it is a happy new addition to my growing library of dexterity games.  However, it doesn't have that "special something" of games like PitchCar and Crokinole.  But, that's not to say that I don't intend to keep playing it - I do.

If you like dexterity games, then you're in good company!  Because I like them too!  You should check out the games I just mentioned, but also check out Catacombs, Bamboleo, and AttrAction.

I would like to thank Mayday Games for providing me with a review copy of Toc Toc Woodman.

Bamboleo Review

I like dexterity games.  Ok.  Perhaps the term is that I love dexterity games.  Generally this means that I like flicking discs around various boards, tables, and race tracks.  Occasionally, though, this infatuation causes me to branch out and play games like Bamboleo.

Bamboleo is pretty simple.  First, you balance the board with all of the pieces on it on top of a cork ball that is raised off of the table.  Next, players alternate taking turns removing pieces from the board.  Preferably without knocking pieces off or knocking the entire board over.  Once someone fails at this (thus sending pieces flying), then each player gets a point per piece that they successfully removed.  The person that knocked the board over loses three points.  Then, you set everything up and go again - until someone gets 20 points!  There are other rules about what happens if you realize that you're not going to succeed and you catch the board, or you put your piece back, etc.  But, you get the idea - take pieces off; don't knock over the board.

The angles for the board are crazy

The first pro that I have for Bamboleo is the cork ball.  I really wasn't expecting this game to work very well.  Yet, the cork ball that the board balances on is really an amazing game piece.  It provides enough friction that the board doesn't immediately fall over as soon as it is at a slight angle.  Speaking of angles, they are my second pro - that you can have the board resting at all kinds of seemingly impossible angles.  And it looks amazing and ridiculous, all at the same time. 

The next pro that I have for Bamboleo is that you can actually customize the difficulty a bit.  If your group starts playing repeatedly and it becomes too easy to take pieces off, then you can set up the board so that it's a bit off-center (since there isn't a groove in the board to distinguish where it is supposed to rest on the cork ball).  This will make it more challenging to judge which pieces will affect the equilibrium of the board.  There are also various round shapes - some cylindrical, some oblong, and some just curved.  And these can be set on their sides instead of being flat.  Setting these pieces up differently will cause them to shift around as the board attempts to adjust back to equilibrium.  And, as they shift, they might send the board toppling over.  Finally, you can also stack pieces on top of each other to make the game harder - challenging players to attempt to take a lot of weight off of the board at once.  If they succeed, they will get points for each piece that they remove; but they'll probably fail.

As a final pro, there is a gameplay variant where each player's score is based on how heavy the pieces they remove are.  Whereas we didn't have a scale handy, so we didn't play this way, I think that it is a brilliant idea.  After all, the heavier pieces are far more challenging pieces to remove, so I like that this variant rewards you for taking them.

Successfully removing many of the pieces

Yet, with all that is fun and exciting about Bamboleo, there is a major con - it is annoying to try to balance the board to start a round.  Once you've played repeatedly, I'm sure that someone will grow more skilled at this, thus speeding up the process.  But, especially when you just start playing the game, you may occasionally find yourself spending more time setting up the game than actually playing it.

The only other thing that I will address before wrapping up this review is whether you can play this with children.  The rules are incredibly simple, so from that perspective, you could definitely play with them.  However, the game is all about stability - very slowly picking up pieces, and not bumping the table while the game is being played.  And, well, I don't know your kids - so you'll have to decide if those are things that they can handle.  If so, then this might really be a fun game that you can all play together.  If not, then you might be incredibly frustrated trying to play this with them.

Overall, I give Bamboleo an 8.5/10.  This is a really fun game that I intend to continue playing with my friends when the opportunity presents itself.  Yet, it hasn't managed to upstage flicking games like PitchCar to become my favorite dexterity game.  But, hey - diversity is important, right?  Maybe there's room in my collection for dexterity games that don't involve flicking.

If Bamboleo sounds interesting, then you should also check out Elk Fest, Crokinole, and Fastrack.

Sorry Sliders Review

Sorry! Sliders was described to me as a "poor man's PitchCar" (since it's about $20 instead of $80).  This made me immediately start looking for a copy of it.

In Sorry Sliders, the goal is to move all of your pawns up to the "Home" scoring region.  To do this, you take four "slider" pawns, and you roll them up the ramp onto the scoring board.  After each player has slid all of his pawns, you score points based on where the pieces landed.  Each "slider" can move one scoring piece, and to move a piece onto "Home", you must get the exact score that you need.  Also, in true Sorry! fashion, if you have a slider land in one of the corners, or go off the board, then your top scoring pawn (that hasn't reached "Home" yet) goes back to the starting position.  Keep playing rounds like this until one person has moved all of their pawns to "Home."

One of the alternate setups

The first thing that I like about Sorry Sliders (aside from the price) is that it is quite customizable.  There are several different setups that you can play.  There are four different "ramps" (for lack of a better term), and you can set these up on each side of the scoring board, or you can stack two in a row opposite the scoring board.  You can also set them up so that you form a right angle with the tracks, or even stack three or four ramps in a row.  Finally, there are different scoring boards to make the game easier or harder - the easier one includes an "automatic Home" spot in the center; the hard one contains "danger" zones that remove any sliders that land on them.

The second pro for Sorry Sliders is that it is very kid friendly (and, for that matter, targeted at kids).  It's ages 6+, but could probably be played with 3-4 year olds.  I'm not really sure that it is more kid friendly than other dexterity games (what kid doesn't like flicking things around?) except that the pieces might be a bit heftier, and so they might be able to handle a bit more abuse.  Plus, if your kids completely destroy it, you're out $20 instead of $50+ (depending on what else you play with them).

However, though I liked those two things about the game, there were a few things I was disappointed by.  Our first game we played four player, and so we used the basic four player setup - a scoring pad surrounded by a ramp on each side.  This, essentially, doesn't work with adults.  If you're playing with really young children, this might work out, but for adults, this just means that all of the sliders clump up into the middle.  And, once a few of them are there, it forms a giant blob of pieces that aren't easily moved.  So, instead of having skill or strategy, you're just ramming your pieces into all the ones that are already there.  We wrote off this configuration and started playing others. 

The triple decker

These new configurations lead to my next con - I don't feel like you have as much control over your sliders as you do in other dexterity games.  We switched to the configuration with three ramps in a row leading to a scoring pad.  This made the game much better, but we found ourselves just clumping on the back of the track.  In order to get enough power to get onto the scoring pad, you almost always will give it a bit too much power.  When putting several ramps together, each ramp is at an incline, and so you have to put some extra power in order to slide uphill - and so several of these in a row will remove most of your precision.  Plus, frankly, I don't think that the plastic/ball-bearing combo slides very well on the cardboard playing surface.  It just isn't very smooth - and this added friction forces you to focus more on shooting with enough power instead of aiming your shots. 

Overall, I give Sorry Sliders a 7.0/10.  I was disappointed in it, but that doesn't make it a horrible game.  It's something that I would play more if other people wanted to, and that I think that you can enjoy with the right group of friends.  Also, I think that kids will enjoy it.

If you're looking for some other good choices for dexterity games, you might also look at Caveman Curling, Elk Fest, and AttrAction.

Bisikle (and Roadzters) Review

Since I'm a sucker for basically all dexterity games, I was very excited when I got to try out Bisikle (which is the same game as Roadzters, except that one uses bikes, and one uses cars - and the cars have ramps on the back of them).

In Bisikle, each player is attempting to go around the track a set number of times.  On your turn, you take the Z-Ball, and set it directly in front of your bicycle (place holder), and then (move the bike and) flick the Z-Ball.  If it knocks down other bicycles and stays on the track, then you set your bicycle up immediately behind the knocked over one.  If the Z-Ball stays on the track, then you setup your bicycle wherever it stops, and if it goes flying off, then your bike goes back to where it was before the shot.  The first person to go around the determined number of times wins!  (Sound like PitchCar? Yeah, the rules are essentially the exact same except that everyone flicks the Z-Ball instead of a disk.)

Set the Z-Ball in front of your bike and let it rip!

When it comes to pros for Bisikle, there is one aspect of the game that is far better than anything else - the track.  The track is amazing.  It is made of plastic, and each section interlocks with the others.  The game comes with risers, so you can decide to make certain sections be different levels.  It also comes with a jump and an obstacle, each of which can allow you to customize your track however you would like.  It also comes with fences that you can put around the edge of some of the track pieces - and the track is setup so that you can put the fence on either side of it (or both).  Overall, it is highly customizable.  And, what's more - there are no uneven spots!  I assume that this is because it is made out of plastic instead of wood, but whereas PitchCar's uneven spots are enough to make me want to flip the table occasionally (I "normally" just pantomime it instead), Bisikle's track doesn't have any of these!

The next things about Bisikle aren't really pros or cons - just more things to discuss about the game.  The first of these relates to the fences.  The fences are a bit bouncy, and I don't feel like they give you enough of them.  I haven't decided if I like the fact that the fence bounces you back (like bumpers in bumper bowling or something).  It at least helps set the experience of playing Bisikle a bit apart from other games.  However, either way, I don't feel like enough fence pieces are included in the game.  There are not enough included to put a single fence around each section of track - and, with the bounciness of them, there are some sections where you will want to put a fence around both sides.  Yes, I realize that this lack of fences just means that the game is more challenging, but I would still prefer the option of placing more.  (And, on a side note, you actually can buy more - it appears that you can buy additional parts for Bisikle.  You can buy more curved track, straight track, risers, fences, obstacles, or jumps to customize your track - and you can buy more Z-Balls and bicycles to replace any missing ones.  This is another nice aspect of the game.)

The track definitely works with PitchCar disks

The next interesting thing about Bisikle is the Z-Ball.  This is really what makes the game different.  The ball has ball-bearings in it that make it keep spinning (and wobble a decent amount) during and after your shot.  I haven't played the game a lot, but so far, I'm not really in love with the Z-Ball.  Probably the biggest annoyance while playing this game is when I make a really neat shot and then watch the ball continue to wobble for the next 10 seconds and eventually find its way off the track.  Very annoying.  However, if you set up a lot of fences, the Z-Ball does a very good job of flying around the track.  Either way, I'm still "on the fence" about the Z-Ball (but in love with puns).  Maybe I should set up a house rule where you set up your bicycle based on where the Z-Ball went off the track, instead of going back to where it started.  Speaking of house rules and customization...

The track works with PitchCar disks.  The disks even fit through the obstacles (though just barely).  I also tried it with Crokinole disks (to see if you could essentially play PitchCar for significantly cheaper), but they don't quite fit through the obstacles.  Really, I think the best disks if you wanted to actually use the obstacles would be PitchCar Mini disks.  None of them will work well with the jump - your disk will catch the lip of it and flip.  The plastic, of course, plays a bit differently than the hard wood surface of PitchCar, and the fences are much bouncier, but you can definitely play it this way.  I haven't decided if I prefer it, but I definitely like the fact that it doesn't have uneven spots.  And that it is a lot cheaper to buy and customize your track.

Overall, I give Bisikle an 8.0/10.  It is a fun game on it's own, though it probably won't replace PitchCar for me - yet the track is good enough that it might replace my PitchCar tracks; I haven't really decided on that part yet.

If you like dexterity games, you might also check out Crokinole, Catacombs, and Caveman Curling.