Posts By Artem Safarov
Mice and Mystics Review: An ambitious and lovable disappointment.
Form and function rarely go hand in hand. One is always stronger that the other – brilliance of Carcassonne hiding behind simplistic graphics, gorgeous FFG components masking gameplay that is sometimes unwieldy. But in no game is the discrepancy is as glaring as in the imaginative, lovable but ultimately disappointing Mice and Mystics.
Ticket to Ride review: All aboard the Board Gaming 101!
Everyone likes trains. The old-timey charm of the whistles, the rhythm of the wheels, the chugging of the engine harkens back to a simpler time. It is no coincidence then, that simplicity is the most salient feature of a board game that takes an exceedingly plain concept of set collection and crafts it into one of the most broadly appealing games you’ll find – Ticket to Ride.
Healing, damage and role of combat in RPGs
Have you tried playing a D&D campaign without a cleric in the party? What about an online game of Elder Scrolls without someone following an eso templar guide? Fought a dragon with only a squad of tanks, thinking each blow is but a scratch? The possibility is unsettling with the number of players, both tabletop and computer RPG, missing out on crucial setups in their group. And what could be the most important setup than a healing/buffing character?
This article describes the necessities of magical healing in RPGs – removing unnecessary down time it takes for cracked rib to heal, avoiding annoying penalties because you have a hole in your stomach and the like.
Space Hulk: Death Angel Review
In space no one can hear you scream. Not that the Space Marines scream, you understand. Genetically engineered and unquestionably loyal to the Emperor of the Warhammer 40K universe, these fighting machines fight and die with zeal and fervor – no regrets, no remorse type of an affair. A small squad of these heavily armoured warriors armed with chainswords, flamethrowers and psionic powers is deployed to a Space Hulk – a remnant of a ship floating through space. Heavy infestation of alien zerg-like Genestealers is reported.
Elder Sign: Unseen Forces Review
In 2011, Fantasy Flight Games, the champion of superior components and incomprehensible rulebooks have released Elder Sign. In that cooperative game, players took on the roles of fedora-wearing investigators in 1920’s, sneaking around old museums.The purpose of their investigation is to uncover clues that can prevent an immense extraterrestrial entity, a Great Old One (shortened anticlimactically to a GOO) from awakening and annihilating existence as we know it.
Competitive vs. cooperative
Any time you read a description of the game, among the first descriptors to be applied – before theme, before number of players, before play time – is whether the game is a co-op or involves competition. Rightly so, as arguably it is this attribute that has the most impact on the player experience. Lets compare, then, what each format brings to the table before judging their merit: