Incan Gold and Las Vegas

Incan Gold is a push your luck game that may get you jonesing for a trip to Vegas or at least break out a deck of cards for some Texas Hold'em.

The point of the game is to be the player with the most treasure at the end of five quick rounds and I mean quick! A game that can have up to 8 players only takes about 15 to 20 minutes which means there are usually plenty of "One more game!" being said.

The five round cards

The game is very simple and each round involves laying down a card on the "path", dividing the treasure evenly among the players leaving the excess treasure on the card and then the players simultaneously deciding whether the will stay in the temple and brave another card or go back to camp keeping all of their divided loot plus whatever is left on the path cards.

The "I'm staying" card and the "I'm leaving with my swag" card

Of course the path doesn't only consist of treasure cards there are also artifact and hazard cards. Artifact cards are a fun little addition because not only are they worth big bucks but they can only be taken when only one person heads back to camp, if more head back the same turn the artifact stays on the path. Hazard cards can end the rounds adventuring right quick. If two of the same type of hazard show up on the path then that round is over and anyone that is still in the temple loses the treasure they have collected that round.

An example of treasures, hazards and an artifact

Therefore the trick of the game is to balance the risk of staying in the temple to get more treasure or get out and keep the treasure you've found.

Pros:
- Quick game
- A good game for teaching division
- Slightly addictive pressing of luck
- Fun tents and treasure

Cons:
- Only thing to think about is staying or going

Overall I really enjoy this game and love watching when only one person is left in the temple and they just keep moving forward and getting insane amount of treasure until they get too greedy and lose it all. This one is always an option on game night!

I choose you, Tichu!

Buy this game now. I was given Tichu a few years as a Christmas present. It took two years before it was experienced. Two wasted joyless years.
The best way to learn this game is to have someone teach it to you, if this is not an option go onto boardgamegeek.com and find a video to watch. We decided to do it the natural way. Four people sat across from each other, sweating, glaring, angry and a little yelly. After the labor of learning Tichu we immediately fell in love with the bouncing trick taking baby!
For those of you who have played "Scum" or "The Great Dalmuti", you will already know the basics and will most likely find Tichu as the next step in gaming perfection.

Pros: Mah Jong, Faithful Hounds, Phoenixes, Dragons and Bombs
Double Dragons when using both decks
Playing in teams is awesome!

Cons: The learning process may kill you

The Great Dalmuti scummeth!

Do you like to play Scum? Do you wish there was a different version that has it's own deck and art? Well, the Great Dalmuti is the game for you!

A fun and simple trick taking game where the lower numbered card or multiple of that card wins the trick allowing the winner to start the next hand. the first player to get rid of all their cards is crowned the Great Dalmuti and the last person out is scum or in this case the Greater Peon. At the start of the next hand the Great Peon gives their best two cards to the Great Dalmuti, who in turn give the them any two cards that they want. The Lesser Dalmuti and Lesser Peon only exchange one card each.


Here's the twist, cards are numbered one through twelve with there being only one one card and twelve twelve cards. The one card is the most powerful but if the hand is two of a kind then if a player has both twos they have the highest hand unless the player with the one card also has a jester which is a wild card.

Pros: Easy game to learn and play
Extra fun when everyone changes seats and the peons get crummy chairs

Cons: A simple game to play
Once you play Tichu it will be hard to go back to this one

Final Thoughts: Just have a good time with this one!

Yay, I'm alive!

Woot!  I survived being sick and I am ready to get back to the reviews.  Unfortunately I missed SaltCon due to rehearsals, performances and sickness and whenever I had free time I slept.  On with the reviews!

Lost Cities: A good quick game

Here is a short review for a short game.

This is a fun little 2 player only game that my wife and I have enjoyed. When we play we usually play for a certain amount of time instead of a certain set of hands. There is definitely some strategy involved, mostly consisting of not discarding cards your opponent could use. I think this game would be a great tool for learning addition, subtraction, multiplication and could be a good step up for children who don't want to play a "little kid" looking game. I do recommend using something as a player turn token, especially if you are doing something else while playing.

 I am having a hard time thinking of anything else to say about it so, if there is anything you would like to add please do in the comments.

Unspeakable Words = unspeakable fun?

I'm a sucker for Cthulhu or anything involving H.P. Lovecraft and it's great when you buy something for its theme and also find a great game in there.  The goal of the game is quite simple and applicable to life: Be the first to reach at least 100 points worth of words without going insane. 

The components are very good, from the 5 cute little green Cthulhu pawns (great for stacking!) representing the sanity of each player to the wonderful art on the cards which include such favorites as: A Leng Spider licking a lollipop and a Vulthoom holding a valentine.

Scary word

The gameplay boils down to spelling a word out of the 7 cards in your hand.  The amount of points you earn for the word are determined by the amount of angles in each letter, for example: "E" is worth 4 points but "U" is worth none.  Now that you know how many points your word is worth you roll a sanity check with the 20 sided die trying to roll equal to or higher than the word's worth or lose one of your cutie Cthulhus.

How not to win: If you lose all your pawns, you lose.  If someone else gets to 100 points, you lose. If you lose all your pawns and someone gets to 100 you doubly lose.


Final thoughts: A fun word rummy type game with a good theme and high quality components.  My only complaint is that the game is too simple, but you could easily use another word game but keep the insanity and of course be sure to try out the optional rules, especially "The Unspellable Oath", where once you have only one pawn left you can turn in any combination of letters and score it because unhinged folks will believe anything is a word.  So, go out and get this game and watch you and your friends go insane with wordy-Lovecraftian-goodness!

Ahh, they want a hug

Cyrano: poetry + friends = good times!

I thought I would get things going here with a game that most people don't even know about so, here goes!

Who knew writing poems could be so entertaining!  This game is great and a new favorite at game night with our friends!  Cyrano is a very creative and fun party game that works especially well with those that don't take their poetry too seriously.  First you draw three cards and slide them into the handy dandy tower (I recommend taping or gluing the tower together because the adhesive isn't strong).  The first card is the theme of the poem and the other two cards are the rhymes with example words.  Each player then begins writing a four line poem about the theme where two of the lines follow the first rhyme, the other two lines following the second rhyme.  Titles are highly encouraged. Here's a poem that my wife wrote in play:

Theme:  Death

Rhymes:  On as in gone/iron
         Er as in blur/transfer

Title:  Unghh

They didn't see it coming, the nerds at Comic Con,
When a bunch of zombies near the stage came ambling on.
"Brains!" they cried, as well as wanting tastes like cheek and liver.
The nerds (in their expanded state) stood shaking, fat a-quiver.


   As you can tell it was greatly admired for its adherence to theme and beauty!
After all players have finished writing their poems they each take a turn reading their work of art out loud, and get a point for every rhyming word they use that no other player used, sorta like Boggle or Scattergories.  After the poems have been read everyone then simultaneously votes for the poem they liked best, and receive points based on how many other players voted for the same poem they did. If you vote for yourself and you're the only one to do so, you would get no points; however, if you voted for yourself and three other players also voted for you, you would get three points.

Pros:
- It isn't like any other game.
- The results are often hilarious.

Cons:
- Those that are slow are often stared at by the other players until they finish.
- nothing blows up.

Recommendations:
- Start a timer when there are only two players left writing.
- Don't be afraid to write something ridiculous or crummy.
- Pick up this game as soon as you can, especially if you like games like Loaded  Questions and Balderdash.
- Remember to snap, not clap, after a poem is performed.

Here is an exciting video of what it is like when people are writing their poems!