July Staff Picks!
Unmatched -Brian Taylor
- Name of Game: Unmatched
- Publisher: Mondo/ Restoration Games
- Year Published: 2019
- Type: Tactical strategy
- Difficulty: Medium
- Play time: 25 mins
- Rule Complexity: Easy
- Number of Players: 2-4
- Bits: Nice bits, great art
- Overall Rating: 5 Meeples
The Unmatched series of games are the perfect fit for strategy gamers that want to spend their time playing instead of studying rules and preparing their army. The premise is that heroes and characters from popular culture, literature, and history are battling it out to be the last one standing. The first entry in the series pits Medusa vs King Arthur vs Alice vs Sinbad. Other stand-alone entries include Bruce Lee(!), Robin Hood vs. Bigfoot, and characters from Jurassic Park. Best of all, you can mix and match fighters from any Unmatched set! Fly your local colors and pit Bruce Lee vs Bigfoot!
When you first open the box you can tell this game was designed with love and style. The miniatures are highly detailed with a pre-applied wash that makes them really pop – no painting needed! The tray is perfectly designed to hold every bit in a perfectly sized slot. The game board (2-sided) is bright and uses a clever color-coding system so you can tell instantly if your hero is within fighting range of another piece. Each fighter has their own deck of cards, and the art if fabulous, evocative of great comics art (it reminds me of J.H.Williams III amazing Batwoman comic art). –Brian Taylor
Dixit -Reena Asquith
- Name of Game: Dixit
- Publisher: Libellud
- Year Published: 2008
- Type: Creative association based family party game
- Difficulty: Easy
- Play time: 30 mins
- Rule Complexity: Easy
- Number of Players: 3-6
- Bits: Average
- Overall Rating: 5 Meeples
Dixit is a gorgeous creativity focused game that is truly all ages. Every player draws a hand of cards, each with a unique illustration. Players will take turns being the Storyteller, who will give a single word as a clue and then put one of their cards face down then everyone else will put in a card face down that they think fits the clue. When the cards are flipped everyone will try to guess which card was the Storytellers, then points will be allotted accordingly. You can decide a winner based on points, or just keep playing until your group feels done. That’s about it! Its mechanical simplicity makes it a great choice to play with younger kids. All the art is magically evocative and fits perfectly with what this game is all about. Creativity! –Reena Asquith
House of Danger – Nichole Davis
- Name of Game: House of Danger
- Publisher: Z-Man Games Inc.
- Year Published: 2018
- Type: Choose your own adventure
- Difficulty: Easy-medium depending on the choices you make
- Play time: About an hour
- Rule Complexity: Easy
- Number of Players: 1-3
- Bits: Great, the style really ticks the nostalgia box
- Overall Rating: 5 Meeples
I really like House of Danger because I loved reading “Choose Your Own Adventure” books as a kid, and this game really encapsulates that whole genre very well. Your choices really affect how the story plays out, with many possible endings and a good amount of cheesy spookiness thrown in. By its very nature, House of Danger has a lot of replayability with many twists and turns along the way. –Nichole Davis
Wing It – Boyce Asquith
- Name of Game: Wing It
- Publisher: Flying Leap Games
- Year Published: 2017
- Type: Storyteller
- Difficulty: Easy
- Play time: 30 mins to an hour
- Rule Complexity: Easy
- Number of Players: 4-7
- Bits: Excellent Legible Cards
- Overall Rating: 5 Meeples
Wing It is a ridiculous story-telling game where players will alternate telling stories and judging the stories. Each round, the judge will read a scenario card like “you and your twenty chihuahuas are having a picnic when out of nowhere an eagle starts swooping at you.” The other players then will take turns using three of the five cards in their hand to tell a story based on the scenario. If my hand had giraffe legwarmers, a fire extinguisher, a complete set of pots and pans, a Spanish dictionary, and a fishing net, I would say “I use my fire extinguisher to blind the eagle before I start waving giraffe legwarmers frantically in attempt to scare the bird off. If that does not work, I chuck various pots and pans piecemeal at it keeping my precious chihuahuas safe.” The judge then determines the best story, the winner becomes the judge, everyone refills their hand back up to five cards and a new round starts. Some pretty silly stories can result. Especially fun game for people who like to tell vignettes and short stories. –Boyce Asquith
