GamesReviews written by WadeMonnig
Beautiful Artwork doesn't make for an entertaining experience. Even as a 18 card micro-game, Smitten 2 lacks any sort of draw beyond “Well, we finally beat it.” Every power on the cards is actively trying to lead you to lose, and it smothers any feeling of joy with decisions like “Well, if I do this, it's the least likely action that will cause us lose.”
Can you play well with others? Will you be able to lose with style? Are you able to take charge when the timing is right? Sure, it sounds like a kindergarten report card but it all influences your success in 3 witches. For a small card game with an equally small price, 3 witches comes up big.
Despite being almost exclusively about cube pushing, I've really enjoyed my return to Euphoria.
I can't hear the name Fruit Fight without picturing John Belushi screaming it across a college cafeteria. So, you'll have to forgive me when I say “This game is a H-I-T. Hit.” What I don't expect you to forgive me for is me saying “Fruit Fight is a fast, frenetic filler of flinging food that fully fits into a fun filled family-friendly foray into...CMYK's Magenta line.” (Kind of ran out of alliteration steam and/or desire at the end there).
Madcala is stellar head-to-head game whose piping hot tea is the thinky manipulation of shards and whose sugar and honey is the asymmetrical player powers, plus-ones, and commoners. This mad tea party doesn't need a “Drink Me” tag for me to keep returning to it.
I think the 20 strong system is a good single player system and I'm interested in see where they take it with the other Tanglewood releases. I just don't think Red's extremely steep difficulty combined with what feels like an overly long adventure will give most gamers what they are looking for in a solo experience.
Even at it's best, Kero never really thrills. Despite having excellent art, a great theme, and the world's best sand timers, that never overcomes it's faults. But, hey, I now own two cool ass six-inch War Rig sand timers.
The biggest barrier to picking this up is the price. At 69.00, it is literally the price you might expect to pay for an entire game. Deluxe Tokens are definitely a luxury. But in a game that focuses so heavily on the bag building element, it's one that ups the entire Wonderland's War experience.
Power Grid is an (Energy) efficiency puzzle. If that is your jam, Power Grid is one of the best available. It's where the title of this review comes from. The number of times you are a single dollar short of something you want to accomplish seems to happen in every single game...usually more than once.
The Good, The Bad and The Handsome is a notch above the typical “More Stuff” expansion with the addition of the Legendary Item mechanism. Combining that with three new characters and the added player interaction from the story cards, it makes an excellent addition to your Western Legends experience.