Saturday Morning Gamer

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7 December 2002

As I sit here typing this, I can see six inches of snow in my back yard... and it's a beautiful thing. Great weather for playing board games!

Nodwick Hench Games Now Available

Nodwick Hench Games, designed by Frank Branham and published by Jolly Roger Games (with art by Aaron Williams) is available now. It's a card game for 3 to 6 "sadistic adventurers," based on the Nodwick comics from Dork Storm Press.

Nodwick Hench Games is played in real time, with no turns as such. Players compete to piece together the best henchmen they can, using duct tape, happy thoughts and other methods employed by Piffany in the comics. Games take about 15 minutes to play.

More about the game can be found here.

Games I'm Playing

I got a chance to play all three of these new two-player releases from EuroGames recently (all designed by Bruno Cathala) with Ted Cheatham. I'll post reviews on the site later, but here are some quick thoughts:

Tony & Tino is an excellent game, the best of the lot. A Mafia-themed game that involves economics and is devoid of killing. Players attempt to control streets with their Mafia crew members, aiming to occupy the streets worth the most in terms of racketeering. There are plenty of decisions to be made, and each player begins with an identical deck of action cards. Tony & Tino is a game I can see playing pretty regularly. We had a lot of fun with this one.

Drake & Drake is second-best, and pretty good. It had a feel at times that was similar to Tally Ho! from Rio Grande Games, although they are two very different games. Players compete to land their pirates on an island full of rum and gold, . The placement of your pirates is key, as is good use of the action cards. The rules are simple, but there's enough strategy to require at least two plays to have it all in focus. I'd play this anytime someone asks.

We both wanted to like War & Sheep!, but it fell short for us. This ons was too simple, unless we missed something in the rules (which we triple-checked and couldn't find it if we did!). Cute theme, just 15 minutes long (the other two are 30 minutes), but not enough meat. Each player controls a flock of sheep, trying to eat the most and the best grass while avoiding the two wolves hiding in the field. One option available to players -- doing recon -- we never used, because we couldn't see why it would be of benefit. I'll play it again with another opponent to see if it turns out differently, but after my first play, I'd recommend this only for very casual gamers who really like the theme.

We also played a two-player game of Keythedral, the newest game from designer Richard Breese (Aladdin's Dragons, other games in the "Key" series). It was engaging but would definitely be better with more players (it supports up to five). Players are competing to build a Keythedral in Keytown, and to do so they must be good at both initially placing their tiles and managing their resources throughout the game.

The small card game Saloon is a simple brawl-fest, set in the Wild West. It looks quite fun (with two players, we only ran through a single round), but a bit on the mindless side in terms of strategy.

Boardgame Top Picks List of the Week

During the holiday season, many families will be together in large groups. These are the best games for 7 or more players.

• Werewolf / Mafia
  
• Formula De
  
• Ricochet Robot
  
• Catch Phrase
  
• Play It By Ear