Castle Break is Exciting

Castle Break is a fun, exciting game of both luck and strategy.  It doesn't have a lot of rules so is quick to learn and easy to teach.  Basically, the point of the game is to be the first to release the dragon that is trapped inside the castle by completing quests to get 6 coins that you forge into keys to unlock the 3 gates to the tower to release the dragon.  Players can do two different actions per turn from any of these choices:  get a quest, use a power card, roll and move, barter for a card from an opponent, swap a card with themselves, forge their keys, complete a quest.

Quests involve taking certain items to specific rooms in the castle.  The three types of cards are trade goods, weapons and power.  Power cards give special powers such as ways of moving faster, ways to stop or slow down opponents.  

PROS:

Love the artwork on the game board.

Like the combination of strategy and luck.  You always feel like you at least have a chance when you are behind.

Lots of options of things to do on a turn.

If you don't like a quest, you can exchange it for a different one.

Game is up to 4 players and only takes about an hour for ages 10 and up.

Under $20.

CONS:

The game doesn't come with a dragon!  The one I have was made by a friend on his 3D printer.

Quacks if a Fun Push Your Luck Game

Quacks is a fairly easy game to play but the first time, there is a lot of reading involved.  After that, you get to know the different ingredients so don't have to read all that much.  This game is mostly luck of the draw with just a little strategy.  You do not want your potion to explode so have to know when to quit pulling ingredients from your bag.  The object is to make the most points before the game ends.  There are 9 rounds every game.  

On a turn, you all play at the same time, pulling out ingredients from your bag one at a time and placing them in your pot.  You can pull as many as you want; however, if you get more than 7 white chips (cherry bombs), your potion explodes and you must choose between scoring the points based on how far along you got, or buy more ingredients.  You can't do both like you would normally be able to do.

Then you score points, everyone buys ingredients, the red rubies are taken, the rats are placed (the ones behind get a bit of a head start according to how many rat tails are between them and the lead person on the scoreboard.  The second round card is flipped which provides some kind of benefit for all players.  All ingredients used are returned to the bags and players draw all at once again.

As the game continues on, your bag gets more and more ingredients according to what you buy.  Each round, players can buy up to two different ingredients based on how far along they got.

PROS:

Fun, easy to play, the only choice each round is what ingredients you want to buy.

Up to 4 players and takes about an hour. 

Cute theme.  Players are all quacks trying to come up with the best potion.

Don't need to wait for your turn since everyone plays at the same time.

The strategy is building up a stable bag of ingredients, increasing odds of choosing colored chips early.

Get red rubies to be able to move your starting point ahead.

CONS:

Mostly a game of luck of the draw.

Castles of Mad King Ludwig is Unique

I love playing Castles of Mad King Ludwig because it is unlike any other I've ever played!  The whole theme is laying to form a castle of many different rooms and sizes.  First off, the master builder gets to place the different room tiles on the market.  He/she decides what each room tile will cost.  If other players purchase any, the master builder gets the money.  So, as the master builder you must decide if you want money or want to keep the other players from getting certain rooms and pricing them high so they can't afford to buy them.  Other players buy what they want and then the master builder buys but that money goes to the bank.

Each tile has doors that much be connected to the other tiles in order to place the room.  There are some downstairs rooms that require stairs first before they can be placed.  There are 3 common objectives that the King favors.  These change from one game to the next.  It could be certain room types, sizes, or area, etc.  When a room is completed (all the doors connecting to another room, hall or stair), that player gets a special bonus depending on the type of room.  In addition, each player gets two secret objective cards and can get another for each utility room they place into their castle.

I also really like the scoreboard in this game because it's so pretty!  Swan tokens move down the river for scoring.  This game involves lots of decisions--what rooms to buy, where to place them, how much money to save or spend and how to price the rooms when you are the master builder.  Game ends when there are not enough cards to refill the market. 

Player with most points wins.  I like this game a lot because enjoy building games and also castles!  I also have an extension for this with swans, secret passages and moats that make the game a bit more challenging but give more opportunities for points and getting more money.  Either way is fun!

This game is based on the real King Ludwig.

LURE Is Catchy

 LURE is a fun game of luck with pretty fish cards and lots of colored dice, enough for five players. This is a short, easy game for all ages.  It has very few rules so is easy to teach and learn quickly to play.  I am extremely happy with this purchase because it is a good filler game when we're looking for something fast to finish off the evening.  I played this with a couple kids (Maggie and Quil) who both were thrilled with the different fish pictures and liked catching them.

Here's how to play:

Everyone secretly picks how many dice they want to roll and how many lures they want to use.  

All the fish cards have requirements needed in order to catch them.  Some just need a certain number or more on the dice total.  Some need certain numbers on the dice, no matching dice or matching dice to show up.  

Each player reveals the number of dice they are rolling and the lowest total gets to fish first.  First player rolls their dice and takes all the fish they can catch.  

If players totals tie, they each roll their dice and lowest total goes first.

Each fish card has points shown on it which players total up at the end of the game.  Winner is the one with the highest total points.

PROS:

Quick to teach, learn & play. (15-20 min to play)                Comes in small box for under $20.

Pretty cards, dice and screens.                     Fun--people usually want to play again right away.

CONS:

Numbers on yellow dice are a bit hard to see.                        Lots of adding throughout the game.

I'd like to know your thoughts about this game in the comments below.  Let me know if you want to play!

Ticket To Ride - A Light Fun Game

 

Ticket to Ride is a game for kids and adults.  It is fun but fairly light.  Turns are simple.  You have one action per turn with 3 options:  either choose two cards and add them to your hand, lay some train tracks or get a destination card.   It takes about 2 hours with 5 people.

PROS:

It plays up to 5 people, all ages.

Rules are few so it's easy and quick to teach and learn.

It combines a little luck with some strategy.  Strategy options include: (1) go for the longest track to get the bonus points; (2) Build lots of tracks fast to block others and to go out before others can complete their destination cards; (3) Just build long track chunks for lots of points along the way; (4) Complete lots of destination cards.

CONS:

It can blog down if your color cards aren't coming up.

Can become frustrating when others block your route, but that's part of the strategy.

The orange and red cards are a little hard to tell which is which so I wrote "red" on my red ones.

If you played this, share your thoughts about it in the comments.