It was just a couple of months ago Front Line No Komrades was reviewed in this space. The game was a light, albeit fun, filler-style card game from Anvil 8 Games.

This week the game is Aetherium from the same publisher.

Aetherium is about as different from No Komrades as one can imagine. This one is a 32 MM skirmish level strategy game complete with nicely detailed miniatures to move around a nicely done board.

So, this is no filler game. There is tons of detail in every aspect of Aetherium starting with a highly illustrated rulebook that exceeds 100-pages. While a fair chunk of the book is rule details, it also includes a ton of 'fluff' explaining the history of the futuristic world in which Aetherium is played. That sort of detail is appreciated by those wanting to fully immerse themselves in a game world, but if you just want to play you can skip over the fiction.

From the rulebook; "Aetherium is a tabletop miniatures board game played in beautifully realized and customizable battle map and tile system. Players control one of several factions and battle across a profound virtual landscape. Aetherium unfolds with a dynamic, intuitive d12 mechanism. The game's turnless interaction evolves within a completely unique modular tile system – one that responds directly to the will of the players during the game. We have compiled a sequence of scenarios to take you through the game itself, but the structure ensures that no two experiences, no two games, can ever be the same."

In the Aetherium, players will;

* Control a skirmish-level selection of highly detailed, beautifully sculpted miniatures to represent your unique cadre of hackers and affiliated programs.

* Engage in a daring struggle for control of an ever-shifting landscape, set against a backdrop of mind-crushing white noise. Be careful where you tread.

* Strategically program your activation deck cards in order to anticipate your opponent's movement, and to sequence your software as you lead your team on a bold run into the Aetherium.

* Struggle for control of the psychological reality itself, while utilizing your free remaining RAM to stay in the fight to the bitter end.

* Revel in unmitigated glory.

Players have a skirmish 'team' led by the Avatar, which gives some flavour for what the miniatures represent.

"The Avatar is the most important program that a user controls and, generally speaking, represents the digital persona of the player in the game. Avatars are the most powerful programs in the game and, as such, will often have excellent offensive and defensive capabilities, as well as generate RAM and influence other programs. These are dangerous, powerful manifestations and should be treated with the utmost attention and respect," details the rules.

Every program in Aetherium has a Data Card that describes its specific attributes, software, and talent. These statistics allow players to keep track of various relevant aspects of the program's potential: from offensive and defensive capabilities to how much damage a program can absorb before it is deleted.

The game basically works on the premise of battling computer programs.

"During this step, players will determine which and when programs can activate. Beginning with the starting player, that player will draw and reveal the top card from their PAD and immediately resolve that program's activation. During a program's activation, it will have the opportunity to move, attack, and run .EXE abilities. Once a program has finished its activation, then the next player draws the top card from their PAD and resolves that program's activation. Play continues this way, with players alternating draws from the top card of their PAD until one side has achieved victory, the game ends, or a player's draws the last card of their PAD," notes the rules.

While there are alternate goals that can be the focus of a 'battle', you will end up attacking and defending in Aetherium.

"During its activation, a program with an attack profile may attempt to attack an enemy program. Unlike other actions, an attack does not cost CS to perform. Unless otherwise stated, programs cannot make more than one attack per activation. A program's attack profile will be described on its Data Card. Attack profiles include details about the attack such as the target symbols, type of attack, range, damage thresholds, and disruption effects," explains the rules.

In general I enjoy miniature skirmish games, MERCs and Blackwater Gulch among my favourites. Both of those games are a tad more free form, played without a board so miniatures move freely via measurement.

Aetherium has a board, but it does some neat things with those boards. To start, small symbols on the grid signify a piece in undercover, or in an area that requires extra movement to traverse. Those little symbols are very effective, but you do need to keep an eye on things to remember to play with their effects.

Players can also move segments of the board 'within the program'. I'll admit that is a cool idea, but perhaps less impactful in terms of game play. I say that, although it may just be that we got too focused on that ability that we over played its actual usefulness.

Another generalization in a game like this, players need to fully understand the range of abilities the limited number of units you have. I was playing the 'praetorian' unit in my first game and missed a key ability that had me both frustrated by the unit's frailty and questioning is game value. Realizing the rule I missed after had me doing a 180 on the unit's potential.

The bottom line for Aetherium is that if you like miniature skirmish games you should quickly fall in love with this one. It might not be MERCs in my mind, but is easily better than many games out there.

Check it out at www.anvil-eight.com

Thanks to fellow gamer Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.

Backgammon is an ancient game, and as such it has had a number of designers create variants of the old game.

MicroGammon is the most-recent among them.

"Backgammon is perhaps the world's oldest continuously played board game. The game has been enjoyed around the world for nearly 5000 years... but isn't it time for a little update?" denotes the game's Kickstarter page.

"MicroGammon was created to update this venerable game and make it accessible to more people by compressing the game and making it both easier and faster to both learn and play. The goal of providing faster play is in keeping with the desires and interests of the younger generation."

That is exactly what MicroGammon is, a shrunken version of the original game. There are less points on the board, less stones to deal with, and dice have less sides.

Apparently MicroGammon has received a US patent, but there aren't any new ideas here, it is just a smaller game which plays more quickly, which is a fine thing in its own right, but is hardly innovative.

This is really backgammon lite. It plays more quickly, which is great for a coffee break.

Since it does play more quickly it is likely to attract the younger player as suggested based on a generally shorter attention span. Traditional backgammon has always had a strong social aspect where time at the board was looked at as a positive in terms of interaction.

"Another important and fun feature of MicroGammon is the novel dice that are used, which allows for game compression to speed things up as described below," denoted the Kickstarter page.

Again this is rather hyperbole.

MicroGammon uses four-sided dice rather than traditional six-sided. Four-sided dice are far from new. They have been used in role playing games in particular for years, so they are familiar to many gamers. I will grant the dice in this game are very nice, but not exactly 'novel'.

The four-sided dice do mean doubles occur 50 per cent more often, (one-in-four rolls compared with one-in-six roles for six-sided dice), although in-game you don't notice the difference as much as I had anticipated.

The game does seem to leave pieces vulnerable more often, so they get sent to the rail more often, which will please some as it tends to create the ability to rally back, while diehard backgammon players may see it as detracting from the skill aspect of the original game.

Ultimately this is simply a backgammon variant, albeit one that is quicker to play. It is a fine little game for the cabin, coffee shop, or library, which is a nice niche for a game like MicroGammon.

Thanks to Dixie Daniels for her help in running through this game for review.

It was only a few weeks ago the top-five reviewed games in 2018 was a topic, and while this is the first game of 2019, we have a contender for this year's top-five in 50-weeks' time.

Yes folks, Root is that good a game that I can go out on a limb and suggest it will be in the conversation around our gaming table in a year as one of the best games.

So what makes Root such a stand out?

Well to start with there is some outstanding art here, in particular the game board, and the key critters. They are rendered in a whimsical style that might suggest to some a game for younger players, but rest assured this is a game for adults, because beyond the joyful art there is some definite depth to play.

But first, a little of the flavour of the game.

"Root is a game of woodland might and right," states the game's Kickstarter campaign page, a campaign which ultimately raised just over $630,000. "Stalk the woods as one of the Vagabonds, seize the initiative with the Eyrie birds of prey, rule over your subjects as the Marquise de Cat, or command the Woodland Alliance to create a new order. With creatures and cunning, you'll rule a fantastic forest kingdom in the ultimate asymmetric game of adventure and war."

Again in the use of cats and birds and the like, you can see there is whimsy at play here, thanks to designer Cole Wehrle and brought to life by illustrator Kyle Ferrin.

The Kickstarter campaign suggests "Root is the next step" in the group's  "development of asymmetric design" which in this case means the four core 'factions' in the base game of Root all have decidedly different rules, and the goals that must be achieved also differ from one group to the next.

Each player in Root has unique capabilities and a different victory condition.

It was interesting on how in the initial play through one player after another in our group was lamenting perceived inequalities in the factions, but by the time we were at the half way point of the game, (15 point mark as 30 wins), only three points separated the four players.

There was again an ebb and flow over the final run to 30, but as the Marquise de Cat player eked out a win, there was again only four points separating the group.

To have four rather distinct factions in terms of in-game mechanics, each actually has its own distinct rules, and then adding differing paths to victory, and still maintaining such game balance is frankly brilliant.

As gamers we often want to have unique abilities, yet when those are provided in a game, there is almost always arguments over one character being over-powered, or another being too weak to compete. Those arguments started with Root but the game quickly quelled them.

This is a game with surprising balance, a major mechanics' achievement.

If there is a flaw, it is that a player does have a rather specific path to victory. That path may be a little too sharply defined, leaving players with few choices in terms of what to do to win. It is pretty clearly defined to do A, B, and C.

Yet, in-game it didn't feel restrictive because each player was trying to impose their will on the game to achieve their goal, and you needed to stay focused on what each other player was up too. The game does allow for lots of player interaction too, which helps keep everyone engaged.

Root also incorporates a range of mechanics although area control is key for at least three factions, the single Vagabond player going about winning is a wonderfully different fashion.

It should be noted since all factions play differently, the learning curve for some is higher than others, although a seasoned gamer will figure things out after a play through.

Overall, this is a very easy game to highly recommend as a virtual must own for an avid board gamer. Check it out at www.ledergames.com

There is always something generally positive about simplicity when it comes to abstract strategy games.

And in terms of the new game Linear Pursuit by Stuart Ralph certainly has an element of simplicity to it. In fact, at first blush as they say, the game reminds quite a bit of Nine Men's Morris, a very old game with a very simple rule set. Of course that the game is still played today, and can often be found in dollar stores for sale is testament to the simplicity still having created a compelling game.

Like Nine Men's Morris, Linear Pursuit is all about moving pegs around a board following certain established lines to create a winning move – capturing the opponent's 'master' piece.

Designer Ralph said one of the key aspects of the game is that it offers variety by allowing for varied opening set-ups.

"It's flexibility," he said. "Multiple two player set ups providing a different experience each time, Solo Challenges and the adherence to the driving force behind its conception, playing pieces that stay where they're placed. You could virtually kick this board down the street before they are disturbed."

Of course for Ralph designing flexibility was natural for a guy who has always appreciated a challenge in a game.

"Ever since I was a child I have been excited by being tested," he said. "I really relished examinations in school, that opportunity to excel.

Whilst joint first place was acceptable, second wasn't.

"Abstract strategy, for me, satisfies the need to be challenged.

"However, soon after designing Linear Pursuit 31 treats ago that need was satisfied by the prospects of raising a family and my relationship with abstract games became ever more distant."

But it never completely disappeared and the germ of an idea for the game remained, having been borne of frustration and disappointment, said Ralph.

"In 1987 I read an article in a local paper about a board game designed by Danny Kishon, "September".

It was an inspiring story of how he came to design his abstract strategy game. I immediately went out and bought it," he said.

"Upon opening the box my heart sank. Whilst the newspaper article was exciting and dynamic, the game itself was not. Not that it was a bad game, but its execution was poor. The board was underwhelming and the playing pieces were flimsy foam plastic shapes that when attempting to place them readily stuck to your fingers, those that were placed would move out of position all too easily.

"Such was the disappointment, I resolved there and then to make a better game, even if the game itself would not be better, the experience certainly should.
"That very day I started designing Linear Pursuit."

Of course creating a playable game is not so easily done.

"Having decided that I would make a game that provided a better experience than I had had with September, I immediately had a vision in my mind of what my game would try to achieve; Chess with playing positions on the circumference of a circle, pieces interacting by moving between positions via pathways across the board."

At this point I will intercede to suggest Linear Pursuit won't immediately make most players think Chess. Lots of games hope for that comparison, most do not achieve it. This is a fun game, with nice wooden elements, (a prototype edition), but it is not chess.

Ralph did put lots of effort into developing the game though.

"I spent on average around 12 hours a day for the next 7-8 months drawing circles and lines," he said. "Too many positions rendered the board unfathomable, too few could not generate a design with any degree of complexity. Having established the optimum number of positions I needed a design to accommodate them. With so many positions, in order for it not to be too daunting on the eye it would require symmetry. Given that the pieces would need to have varying movement abilities a piece capable of moving two positions could not work on a four line design, three would be too few, therefore it needed to be a five line design.

"I had a board, now it needed rules. The kernel of the rules came very quickly, whilst the design of the board, a single, simple five line design with four transpositions, was without doubt, in my opinion, the finished article, the rules would take a further 5-6 months to develop. Initial play testing revealed the ability for a player to perpetually evade capture in the latter stages. Hence a single line from left to right across the centre of the board was introduced. This had the desired effect of severely limiting the ability to evade.

"In 1990, MB Games wanted to include it in their Christmas '92 range, however, in my youthful naivety (it was 1990 and I assumed they were stalling for time to steal the idea) I told them to return the game and I am so glad I did. Upon receiving it back, I placed it in the wardrobe.

In the summer of 2017, one of my nephews quizzed me as to its whereabouts and the obsession I once had for it returned with interest."

Time does allow for refinement.

"Today it is a much better game than it would have been back in 1992," said Ralph. "I have since established solo challenges and multiple starting set ups.
"Does it fit the criteria of being a better experience? I am too heavily invested in the game to form an unbiased opinion, but I believe it does."

What Linear Pursuit is in the end is a solid abstract strategy game that might not wow a player on first play through, but offers enough depth that additional exploration will reveal a game genre enthusiasts are likely to enjoy.
The game is on Kickstarter at present, so check it out.

When it comes to chess variants there are dozens, if not hundreds.

Most are roughly thought out, posted here and there on the 'Net, and played by a small few in isolation.

A few climb above the average, either in terms of reaching the point of production, not always an indication of it being a good game, or simply recognized by taking a chance to play it, and loving it.

Which brings me to Castle Siege Chess a 2017, variant design, by Richard G. VanDeventer.

What is immediately notable with Castle Siege Chess is the board.

The variant is played on the CirSquare 96 (a unique circular board merged with a square board).

It is the board which makes this one worth investigating.

There have been circular chess boards, Byzantine Chess perhaps the most notable, before. And there are variations on square boards. Marrying the two offers something quite different, and VanDeventer should be given a definite pat on the back for making the unlikely marriage work.

The board (24"x24", double-sided, quad-fold, custom designed) has 96 spaces and divided into two castles of 24 spaces each. The idea of castles will remind many chess fans at least in part of Xiangqi, the ancient Chinese form of chess.

The game does offer two new optional pieces; the archer and the catapult.

The archer moves up to three spaces like a short range bishop, but can jump one or two pieces in the process.

The catapult is the rook equivalent.

Neither piece is particularly novel or exciting, but they do provide some enhancement to the piece array.

The board with its circular outer track area does allow for a very different approach allowing for true flanking attacks. This is the exciting aspect of Castle Siege Chess as it opens the door to some varied attack and defence positions.

The options afforded by the unique board design in terms of how to move pieces into the battle is easily the most exciting element of Castle Siege Chess. You can toss out the textbook openings you may have memorized and instead investigate a rather bold new realm of possible ways to attack.

Of course learning how to defend across a broader 'no-man's land' in terms of board territory is also a challenge to be savored.

The result of the marriage of circle and square boards has one other interested wrinkle. The board was left with triangular spaces. When a queen or bishop moves into a triangle across a corner, it can exit across either of the other two corners. When a queen or rook moves into a triangle across a side, it can exit across either of the other two sides. This is a neat twist within the game.

So where do all the neat aspects with the game leave Castle Siege Chess?

Well, the creator has developed varying levels within the 'game system'. There are versions using cards that turn the game into more of a miniatures wargame, with the chess pieces in lieu of wargaming miniatures. It works but the game is far better left as a straight chess variant.

As a variant, there is a lot to like here. I can't say it makes my top-10 chess variants, but there is definitely good things going on with this game.

The changes do require a better starting knowledge of chess than say Grand Chess, so that is an element to consider.

But if you are looking for a bigger challenge, with bigger twists on the basic idea of chess, then Castle Siege Chess is one to enjoy. It could be a game that might just become a favourite of many looking for something different when playing chess, yet still anchored in the more traditional chess game we all know.

Check it out at www.castlestrife.com

When I first saw that there was a game called Tank Chess I have to say it was rather intriguing.

I am a fan of chess variants in general, so that drew me.

But then add the idea of battling tanks, and it was a game I had to check out.

So off the top this is a far ways from being a game that feels in any meaningful way like chess. Yes you are moving pieces around a board, and in most cases you are looking to capture a particular piece, (like the king in chess), but it really doesn't 'feel' like chess.

Chess in the title is merely to attract attention, although since this is an abstract strategy game, chess players are likely to appreciate it immediately.

More accurately Tank Chess from Forsage Games and designers Dragan Lazovic, Predrag Lazovic is a game where players command fleets of tanks in battle.

While this may not satisfy the diehard war scenario game player, it is in my mind just the right game to get a feel for tactics.

So I will preface the rest of this review by simply saying a handful of moves into my first game and I was totally in love with Tank Chess.

The game is actually pretty straight forward in terms of rules.

All tank pieces can move straight forward, rotate in place 45 degrees, or a combination of both. Each 45 degrees rotation, and each movement from one space to another, counts as one step. Initially, this means a lot of counting to ensure you are following movement rules, but over time players will know what they can do for each tank type, as different tank types have different speeds, with the speeds determining the maximum number of steps a piece can perform in one turn.

Pieces can also move a single space directly backwards; however, this cannot be used in combination with forward movement and/or rotation.

"Once a tank has been moved, it may target a single opponent's tank from its final position. If there are multiple valid targets, the tank may choose only one, but it can also choose none. A tank can shoot in three directions – straight ahead or diagonally to the left or right," details the rules.

"The shooting tank must have an unobstructed straight line of sight between itself and the target. Additionally, a tank may not shoot any pieces immediately next to it. There must always be at least one empty space between the two."

You will note the rules mention an unobstructed line of sight. The double sided game boards, (they come in two sizes), have buildings outlined on the board that tanks must maneuver around, which is one of the best aspects of the game design.

The other side of the board is an empty grid and there are terrain pieces with the game, so you can set up a variety of board designs which is another huge plus for the game.

But back to attacking, in order to destroy an opponent's piece, the attacking piece's gun value must be higher than the armour value of the tank side (front, side, or rear) that is being targeted. "In others words, when speaking of light, medium and heavy tanks, a tank can only destroy a tank of the same type from the sides or rear, due to the gun value being equal to the front armour value," notes the rules.

This is easier to understand than it might seem, and while it again is not a perfect representation of tank battles it works pretty slick.

"When a piece is destroyed, it is flipped on its side, remaining on its space. Through the course of a game, destroyed tanks become obstacles, through which tanks cannot move or shoot," notes the rules.

Again this is a great aspect of Tank Chess. As the game develops the little tanks that have been destroyed litter the battlefield, (board), and it is visually very cool.

I will admit the tanks are rather small and plain in this game, and obstacles are just card cut-outs, so think function more than aesthetics. They pieces are functional but there is a lot of opportunity to a version with detailed tank pieces and even 3-D terrain that would be simply incredible.

The goal of the basic game is to either destroy your opponent's command tank, or to 'escape' with your own command tank by strategically moving it to the opponent's side of the game board and exiting the board during its movement.

In game one I was so focused on attacking, my little command tank was blown to bits from half a board away. It is easy to forget that tanks have such deadly long range guns.

"To make the game even more diverse, the players have the option to choose the exact pieces they want to play with in each battle. The players don't have to choose the same pieces; the only thing that matters is that they have the same number of pieces and that one of them is the command tank. In this case, the pieces have to be placed on the marked squares, but the symbol and the piece type don't have to match. Also you can choose different piece type to be your command tank: you just need to attach the antenna to that particular tank," state the rules.

The ability to customize board size, lay out, tank array, all add up to huge versatility within Tank Chess, and that just makes the game better in my mind.

This is one that has my highest recommendation. Check it out at www.gamesforsage.com


Thanks to fellow gamer Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.

Some games just impress from the time you glimpse the box on a shelf, through to the moment the game is set up on the table to play.

That is the 'Wow' factor of Dice Throne from designer Gavan Brown of Roxley Games.

This is a beautifully created game.

The art work, from the box to the play mats, to the character cards, is all outstanding. As in any art, it might not excite everyone, but it is in my mind clean, vibrant, and aesthetically pleasing.

As the name implies, dice are a huge part of this game, and the dice here are custom-designed, with easy to read faces. The dice are another huge win for the game.

While I am not as fanatical about game boxes as some in our group, kudos are due here for the box insert where there are molded slots for everything, making keeping the different characters, the cards, dice, boards etc., well separated.

But what about game play?

Well this is a 'battle royal' with players each having a character with special abilities. The abilities are triggered by rolling the dice which are also unique to the character. At the point of rolling dice the game becomes very much Yahtzee. As an example a small straight will trigger some power a character has, a large straight a different power.

Personally I am not the biggest fan of dice-dominated games, and that is what this one is. In the case of Dice Throne there are some interesting mechanics at play which help. For example, if you are going to attack in a multi-player game you roll a dice which randomly picks who is attacked. It stops everyone beating up on the weakest player, which is good in terms of giving everyone a better chance.

It is also frustrating as good strategy might well suggest attacking a different foe.

The dice rolls already dictate what you can do, and that becomes even more directed if for example you are low in health points, you are pigeon-holed into rolling for health, (if your character has that ability).

Add in the decision of who to attack being a dice roll, and your in-game choices are relatively scant.

But the theme suggests randomness.

As the website, (www. roxley.com) notes; "for a thousand years, the Mad King has sat atop his high throne seeking a worthy challenger. Each year, the undefeated King hosts a tournament of champions offering heroes from all corners of the globe the opportunity to finally dethrone him."

If you can focus on the theme of an arena battle the game is light fun.

A dice game that gets a nod from me, which in itself makes Dice Throne different from most of the genre.

Thanks to fellow gamers Jeff Chasse, Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

Romans vs Britons is yet another outstanding two-player abstract strategy game created by Jon Hather and Gothic Green Oak.

I have previously reviewed The Defence of Pictland and Vikings vs Saxons and both has a 'feel' of being created decades, if not centuries ago, and yet they were tons of fun to play and explore.

Romans vs Britons is just as good.

"The invasion of Briton in 43 AD by the Emperor Claudius, while not perhaps over quickly was, in the end, decisive," provides some background flavour on the rule sheet. "Roman military power was far superior to that of the Britons, and the numbers deployed were often greater. The Britons were disorganised and poorly armed. In fact, of the recorded larger battles, the Romans won all. However, while the Romans did achieve conquering status, it was not without loss. The Britons were sometimes successful at ambushing smaller numbers of soldiers causing exasperation amongst the Roman commanders.

"This game is set in a small valley, through which runs a Roman road along which are marching a small number of Roman soldiers returning from campaign further away. The Britons, though less well armed and poorly organised, have surprise on their side, and ae also able to attack the Romans from both sides. The Romans, though militarily superior, are tired after their campaign and long march. It turns out that this is an evenly matched battle."

Being able to play a game with at least some basis in history is a blast.

Both sides have twelve wooden soldiers, with a leader arranged in two groups on the board. As in other games in this series the board is leather, which is very cool.

The end game is simple, much like checkers, to capture the enemy to a point where it is defeated, or those remaining escape or surrender.

All men (soldiers and captains) move orthogonally any number of squares, until obstructed by another man or the edge of the board. There is no diagonal movement.

Capture is by orthogonal custodial movement. Two soldiers can capture only one enemy man between them at a time.

However, a soldier and a captain, or two captains together, can capture more than one enemy man, (think a line of enemy pieces).

Captured men are removed from the board, not to be returned.

A man can be placed between two enemy men only if he is taking part in capture himself. Otherwise placing a man between two enemy men will result in his capture (ie, suicide).

A neat element of the game is if the losing side is reduced to four men (captains or soldiers) and these four men can escape, each to a corner of the board, then the losing player may declare that the game is over and the winner has won a lessor victory. The winning side may of course, if sufficient men are available, block the corners, forcing the losing side to fight on.

This is another rather brilliant abstract strategy game that anyone liking checkers or chess should seek out at www.thehistoricgamesshop.co.uk

Thanks to fellow gamers Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.

Deck builder games have become a definite area of interest for our gaming group.

It helped that our first taste of the genre was the breakthrough game Dominion, a deck builder which really helped create the genre by its success.

In the wake of Dominion there have been a raft load of games which have utilized the deck-building mechanic is a variety of ways; ranging from basic deck-builders like Ascension to games such as Motherload where the mechanic is part of a more multi-faceted game experience.

With so many games out there, the result has been great games and weak ones, with a lot slotting in somewhere in between. The mechanic alone is not a guarantee of a good game.

So every time a new deck-builder comes to the table it's a bit of 'a cross-your-fingers and hope it's good' scenario.

Well that crossing of fingers certainly worked in the case Helionox: Deluxe Edition from designer Taran Lewis Kratz and Mr. B Games.

So from the game site; "Helionox: Deluxe is a movement based sci-fi strategy deck-building game. It combines deck-building and board game elements to create a robust gaming system that provides maximum replay value, a minimal learning curve, and a short setup time.


"Players compete for 'Influence' by overcoming both social and stellar events, traveling to different locations around the solar system to establish embassies and gain special abilities, and acquiring powerful technologies and operatives from an abundant marketplace."

That might not sound all that special, but it didn't take long once we got into our first game to realize Helionox was a cut above the average in terms of game experience as a deck-builder.

To start with the game does set up quite quickly, although that tends to be a common aspect of many deckbuilders.

The sci-fi-themed art in Helionox is very strong, and that is important since you will be handling a fistful of cards in the game. Nice art adds to the experience. That is one of the downfalls of Ascension, where weak art detracts from the game.

In terms of game play, cards here all tend to offer you a positive option in terms of game play, which is a plus. There is a frustration when cards in your hand are useless at times, and that is rarely the case in Helionox. There may be times when the cards don't let you do the optimum move in the game, but you can usually do something.

Helionox is not just a hand of cards either. There is a board game element with players hopping world-to-world overcoming problems on their way to earning points.

The elements of Helionox add up to an outstanding deck-builder-based game experience, one that rates this game in the top tier of the genre.

Check it out at www.mrbgames.com

Thanks to fellow gamers Jeff Chasse, Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

Admittedly, horror has never been one of the 'genres' I have gravitated to in anything.

Yes I saw the first Aliens, but never bothered with a sequel.

I read Dracula, but never became a fan of horror books.

As a result I haven't exactly went looking for games with a horror theme.

But I am a deck-building game fan, so Mason Crawford's Lockwood's Asylum did catch my eye.

In terms of horror the game drips with theme.

"There have always been rumors surrounding the Lakeshore Asylum," detailed the game's successful Kickstarter fundraising page. "The strange fire back in the days of the Great Depression, the scandal involving the administrator and the flayed bodies in the '40s, the missing patients that briefly led to the asylum's closing in the '70s ... they were stories told around campfires by those who had not seen the horror first hand.

"When Dr. Lockwood took over the administration of the asylum, nobody had any reason to be concerned. The doctor was analytical, precise, driven: the perfect person for the job.

"Then Lockwood found the tome, and the rituals and experiments began ..."

The art by David Romero, Alexander Solomon and Jesh Pasiliano is creepy without being garish to further immerse players in the realm of horror.

For me, as luck sometimes happens, the game arrived in the post the afternoon of Oct. 31. It was Halloween, and a Wednesday, the night we typically gather the Meeple Guild for some gaming. So of course we broke out Lockwood's Asylum.

We have played our fair share of deck-builders, and this one immediately set itself as better than most.

The reason was simple enough, this one allows for more player interaction than most deck-builders.

As the Kickstarter campaign noted, "Lockwood's Asylum allows players to build not only their own decks, but also the decks of their opponents. Each time a player purchases a monster or horror card, that card goes into the play area - or 'room' - of the player to their left."

The element of influencing other players does make this far more of a 'take that' game, which may not suit all, but our group liked it a lot.

Any ally cards that a player purchases go into their own room, where they help defend against the monsters and horrors that have been placed there by the others players.

At the end of the turn, the allies, monsters, and horrors in the player's room battle it out.

The next great feature here is that many cards have special features, some coming into play if the ally or monster survives a battle.

In other instances special actions come into play if they are slain.

Every card has special rules and abilities and potential interactions that keep players interested in every card played.

If the monsters are able to overwhelm the player's allies, then any excess damage lowers the player's health. When a player is reduced to 0 Health, they are eliminated from the game. The last player left standing survives the night and claims victory.

Overall, this is an outstanding deck-builder, albeit with a darker theme than some. A must-own is you are a fan of the mechanic, or the genre.

Check it out at www.blackoutgames.us

Thanks to fellow gamers Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.