Board Game reviews

Mon, 30 Dec 19 12:29:25 +0000

Some board games I've played recently:

7 Wonders

7 Wonders is a card game where you buy various things to give you production and value in later rounds. I've played quite a few games of 7 Wonders now, and I still feel that I don't fully understand what I'm doing. The scoring is quite complicated. Overall I think it's the weakest game on this list, because it's the hardest to pick up. It works best with at least 3-4 people.

BANG!

BANG! is a card game based in the wild west. The idea is that one player is the Sheriff, who is drunk and doesn't know who anyone is. The other players are either deputies, outlaws, or the mysterious renegade. Each player, apart from the sheriff, keeps their identity secret, and everyone tries to guess who's side each player is on. The outlaws are trying to kill the sheriff, the deputies are trying to protect the sheriff, and the renegade is trying to be the last man standing. The game unfortunately requires at least 4 players, but it plays best with 6 or 7. I highly recommend it if you can assemble enough people.

Carcassonne

Cacassonne is a pretty fun game centring around laying out tiles to build and claim various structures. You want to be claiming structures that will give you points, while obstructing or commandeering your opponents' structures. The rules are simple to learn, but the resulting gameplay is complex and very re-playable. Carcassonne works with more, but the sweet spot is 2-3 players; the more people you have the less you'll be able to do as there are only 72 tiles and the game is over when they have all been placed.

Colt Express

Colt Express is a card game where the cards you play allow you to program a sequence of actions for your character to fulfil at the end of each round. The aim of the game is to steal loot, and have the most loot at the end of the game. The interesting thing about this is that your plans can be disrupted by other players' actions, so when you are planning your sequence of moves, you need to keep track of where you are, where other people might be, and maybe you'll try to keep a contingency plan in mind. It's playable with 2-6 players, but it plays best at the upper end of that range as things get more unpredictable and chaotic that way. It's not really great with two players, but gets a lot more interesting with 3+.

Dominion

Dominion is a deck building card game where the aim is to buy victory cards, giving you points at the end of the game. I particularly like Dominion for requiring that you have distinct strategies at different points in the game. You probably don't want to be buying victory cards early on, because they'll dilute your hand and hamstring you in subsequent rounds. It works fine with 2+ players.

Ibanez still make the best necks

Thu, 13 Jun 19 20:04:44 +0000

I've been looking for a new guitar. I have two Ibanez guitars and it seems boring to get another one so I ventured out to try a few similar brands. I tried a Schecter Hellraiser (FR), a Jackson Soloist, a Charvel Dinky and a PRS I didn't catch the model name of.

I'll be honest, I was pretty disappointed with them all. The Charvel and PRS I really didn't like the feel of. The Schecter either wasn't set up correctly or the neck had warped as the strings were catching on the lower frets (more so than just a bit of buzz), but even so, it just didn't feel right on the upper frets. The Jackson was OK, but for an £800 guitar, it didn't grab me.

Then I said "hmm, what have you got in the Ibanez range?" and the assistant brought out an RGD61AL, which felt amazing.

I liked that the RGD61AL is a hard-tail, which is surprisingly difficult to find on metal guitars in that price range. I'm not completely set on that particular model, but it looks like I'll be going Ibanez again. The wizard necks are just perfect for my hands.

I currently have an RG1570 which is a phenomenal guitar (probably JEM quality) but it's long overdue a fret dressing. I think after I buy a new one I'll take the RG1570 somewhere to get the frets redone and some better pickups put in it at the same time.

I can also say that the PRS MT15 amp sounds great.