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Schotten Totten

Reiner Knizia is a man who has more than one string to his bow! Realize, not only is the Sir is a math doctor but he also published more than 500 of his games (Yes, 500 !!!!). I think he has no problem being in the Guinness book of records to be the most prolific author of all time. We owe him Tiger and Euphrates -which I admit I have never hung, sacrilege! - but also the very nice Keltis (SDJ 2008), the excellent adaptation of the Lord of the Rings (sold over 1 million copies) or Amun-Re recently reissued in a resplendent edition at Super Meeple. Among the mountain of games that the Doctor has created one of my favorite and also one of the simplest: Schotten Totten. And that's good because Iello just had the good idea to republish it and more in its mini range.

When Reiner goes beyond the limits!

Schotten Totten is a game holding in a very small box. It encloses 54 Clan cards, 9 thick cardboard terminals as well as 10 "Tactical" cards and 2 game aids (yes, the game is played with two). The nice surprise compared to the previous edition is clearly the remarkable work illustration Insured by djib. The characters of each clan really have "mouth" as they say and the colors are particularly well chosen. The material, although very simple, immediately makes you want to play!

Clash of clans

In Schotten Totten, each player embodies a clan wishing to push a little more boundaries of its territory. These limits are symbolized by 9 terminals that the players will try to claim. The winner will be the one who will arrive in 1st to take possession of 5 terminals or to win 3 adjacent. For this, each player has 6 cards in hand. In turn, one of his Clan cards is placed in front of one of the terminals of his choice. There can not be more than 3 cards per player contiguous to a kiosk. As soon as this is done, the player draws a new card then it is the turn of his opponent.

To claim a kiosk, all you have to do is put 3 more powerful cards than the opponent and to do this refer to the help card which explains the different possible combinations. These resume overall those of Poker but are adapted for 3 cards instead of 5. Thus, a series of 3 different color cards is less powerful than a set that is itself less strong than a sequence of the same color .

Most :

A simple game but not simplistic, A fast game (less than the 20 minutes announced on the box), Really beautiful illustrations, A price derisory A desire to replay really palpable Logos for the color-blind.

The lessers :

As for the old edition, I'm not a fan of "Tactical" cards, A little game that still requires space. The war of the pieces of pawns

Schotten Totten is a game to get your eyes closed! Indeed, I do not count the number of parts that I practiced on the old edition with my dear and tender. The game is simple and fast but requires real attention. Obviously, there is always the chance of the draw but given the short duration of the games, this is not a real problem. On the other hand, as for the previous edition, I wonder again and again about the interest of the "tactical" cards that really bring only chaos to a game that does not need it. Anyway, they are here optional and nothing requires you to play with (in any case, me, I do not oblige you!). Schotten Totten is therefore an essential that now has a dressing up to the height of its mechanical qualities!

So expect to have a lot of pictures on the accounts Twitter, Facebook and Instagram of the blog

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Black Fleet

Black Fleet is the 2th game published by Space Cowboys : Just after the successful family game "+" Splendor and before the very good and very "Expert" Elysium. The first visuals of the game had also capsized more than one player because the illustrations -signed Denis Zilber- are simply to die for. It must be said that the guy has-among other- worked for Dreamworks and Universal Pictures: it throws on a C.V. And then the first news about the game came with an item that will be the cause of big badly heard: the box displays "14 years is +". Thus, many players began to extrapolate before the release of the game that Black Fleet would be an "Expert" game ... So be clear right away, Black Fleet Is NOT a gamers game. It will not burn any neuron (And as I do not have much, it's good!). Far from it. This game is primarily a game of Piracy and " Pick and delivery ". A family game so with a hint of opportunism and malice. Now that the situation is clarified, let's see what in the belly this game that Sebastian Bleasdale, the author of the game, took 10 years (!) To develop.

When we open the box Black Fleet, we are happy: metal duplicates (the same as that proposed as an option for the release of the game « Libertalia "), Plastic boats of very good quality, a substantial game board and a myriad of cards for moves, special effects and improvements. VERY beautiful stuff! It would almost feel like opening a box of Days Of Wonder (specialists in this field). The end of the end, the thermoforming of the box represents a skull of Pirate: High class ! Once the game is in place, we have only one desire: to play any ceasing business!

The mechanics of Black Fleet is very simple. In turn, the player plays a moving card on the two he owns. This allows him to play, in the order of his choice, the following boats of the number of squares indicated:

Move your merchant ship: If he arrives at a port, he sells all his goods at the price indicated and refuel instantly with the goods of the port of arrival. Move Pirate Ship : to attack an opposing merchant ship and steal one of his cargo. The pirate ship will earn money for attacking this ship but also burying her loot in a safe place. Move one of the two frigates: These belong to all players and are in charge of casting the enemy pirate ships. Each Pirate so catch up will be sunk and the player will earn money. Added to this is the fact that the player can use "Fortune de Mer" cards often offering very (too much) effective benefits.

Finally, the player can, if he wishes (and especially if he has the means), buy one of his improvement cards making his boats more powerful: One of the essential points of the game.

Then, the player draws a "Move" card and it is the next player's turn.

The victory at Black Fleet is awarded to the player who has managed to buy all his cards of improvement + his card of Victory. In the event of a tie at the end of the round, the player with the most gold coins wins. Logic for Pirates! 😉

A magnificent material (metal parts, pretty boats, superb illustrations),

A large and very readable tray, Very fast implementation, Quick start, A good family game (affordable from 10 years), One hour of play the game, Opportunity and dirt, do you want it? here's ! The collective eagerness on the player starting to get ahead (yes, if, for me, it's a plus! 😉)

The lessers :

3 or 4 players only, Maybe a little too much text on the cards for young players, Some powers of Improvement cards or Fortune de Mer quite unbalanced, The "14 years and more" on the box making believe a game for big players.

I discovered Black Fleet late because I had read too many conflicting opinions on the net. So I waited to have the opportunity to play to decide whether or not to buy the only game of Space Cowboys which was missing from my toy library. Less than a quarter of an hour after completing my first game, I was at my favorite dealer to get a copy of this family game. Why, then ? Well, because I understood that Black Fleet is a game of Pirates in all that this involves: metal coins, sometimes unbalanced and unfair "Sea Fortune" cards such as storms in the ocean, opportunism, low shots and finally a reviving atmosphere my child's soul! Yes, I would have loved to have such a game when I was 10 years old ... today, I have almost 4 times more (I said "almost!", Do not be derogatory) and it does not not stop taking a lot of fun. We win in fun what we probably lose in strategy, that's for sure. On the other hand, the topic of piracy makes me think more of "Injustice" and "opportunism" than "Management" and "Strategy". So you are warned: Black Fleet is a simple game, dynamic and perfectly in its theme. If you are looking for a cerebral experience, go your way, otherwise if the call of the open sea (and the darling) tempts you, then you know what you have to do!

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Tiny Epic Kingdoms

Tiny Epic Kingdoms offers players to develop their kingdom by building towers, learning magic, then expanding the population ... Each player starts with a single faction (which offers different powers depending on the faction chosen). The players will therefore collect resources, conquer other territories and confront them (or not), make children, patrol their own kingdom and then work to build the tower to protect their kingdom.

The small originality is that each player in turn chooses 1 action among these 6. Other players can either perform the same action or collect resources. But the action in question will not be available for the next rounds because the next player will be able to choose his action among the 5 remaining etc ...

The confrontation between kingdoms is quite simple: either you hoist the white flag while returning to an adversary territory, or you decide to bet your resources (the one who bet most wins the victory ...).

The game stops when a player has put all his meeples or completed his turn or reached his highest level of power.

Tiny Epic Kingdoms is a small game whose games do not exceed half an hour. His dynamism seduces since there is no time out. But it suffers a bit of grip because it is neither a real x4 nor a real game of confrontation. At the same time, in half an hour, it is difficult to lay an Eclipse! So it's more to put in the category of management games and it does it smoothly: you manage your resources, your movements (patrols / conquest), the evolution of your kingdom (power & population) ... The clash only serves interaction, it's not a war game. His lack of surprise will not please everyone, since it is simple and effective but does not present any touch of originality except the choice of actions. If I say no surprise it's because you go conquer and face the weaker kingdoms than you ... No resource is hidden so it's easy to be cowardly ... Maybe that's what I like less in the game, we should try to hide our resources to make the fighting more exciting.

Simple  Rule

selection stock limit

Dynamic

A voucher gateway probably

The lessers

More tiny than epic ... Facilitates the attack of the weakest Without any surprises In conclusion Tiny Epic Kingdoms will delight the general public and small game players, but not the core gamers.