Dark Web, Game Review

Getting the goods on the company, that is the goal. It's not the easiest task to do since companies are upping their security in this decade of the 1990s—getting prepared for Y2K. But you have the skill to get through the security, get the data, get out, and not get caught. You sit down at your computer and start making the connections to attack the firewall.

Dark Web is a card game of computer hacking set in the 1990s. The goal is for the hackers to get into the system and extract incriminating files on the company and get out without getting locked out. The twist in Dark Web is one of the players may be working for Corporate IT.

At the start of the game the players are randomly assigned a role of either a hacker or corporate IT. There can only be one company employee, but there isn't always going to be one. You know your role, but you don't know the roles of anyone else, for certain. There is always one extra role card that is not looked at when the roles are assigned. It is not until the end of the game, when it is time to score the game, which all the players find out if there was an IT employee in the game.

Dark Web is played in four rounds. Rounds have two phases. The first phase is to play a script. Scripts allow actions to be taken by the player. Some of them allow you to manipulate your hand by moving cards around with other players, others allow you to manipulate the draw pile. After playing scripts, you have a choice for the second phase.

The next phase is a decision to log out and save the data you have in your hand, or to draw a card. When you decide to save, you stop playing for the rest of the round. This can be advantageous if you are at a point of having data to score and it looks like the system may get locked down. Drawing can give you data, scripts, virus, or a lock. Locks are turned over when drawn and when five locks get turned over the system gets shut down. All the players who are still in the server are locked out and the data they have been collecting in their hand is discarded.

After four rounds scoring takes place and is based on the amount of data players have extracted. There is some strategy on how to decide to save your data. There are four types of data and you need to have more than one of the data type for it to score. Viruses lower the score for each one saved. Only the hackers score their data points. If there is an IT player in the game anything they have stored does not count. Again, this can be part of the strategy to lock out data from the hackers if they have a loaded hand.

The hackers total their scores to determine if they won. If they get a high enough score, they have overcome the system security and win. If their combined score is not enough, then the player working corporate IT or the game wins.

Dark Web was easy to learn and to get playing quickly. It is designed for ages 10+, which I think is because of the theme of breaking into a computer system. The strategy of the game, along with it written in the rules that you can do table talk (but don't have to tell the truth) would allow younger player with some gaming experience to join in. The cards use pictures instead of text so actions, once learned, are easily recognized.

Playing multiple games in a row reminded me of other card games. There is some variation in the hand you get and determining if there is an IT player. An advantage to this is the quick play. Although listed at being 30 minutes, games weren't taking that long. Dark Web is good to have on hand as a filler game while waiting because of its size.

Dark Web makes a good cabin game. It consists of a deck of 128, which can fit into a pocket or corner of a suitcase.

Overall Spider, Goat Games has another solid game.

You're working your keyboard as the data files are copying. You can tell someone is working the security as the firewall is closing the data access points. The files finish transferring as the system locks. You made it. You know you didn't get enough to stop the company. You bring up your notes from your fellow conspirators about other access points into the system and get ready to take another dive into the company's computer system.

Dark Web is designed and distributed by Spider Goat Games for 3–6 players ages 10+. A game is expected to take 30 minutes.

Thanks to Spider Goat Games for the opportunity of playing their game.

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Switch, Game Review

More pictures on their page

Every so often you are sitting with a few people around and just wanting a quick game to fill in the time. Something everyone gets involved in. In my group we call these filler games. At a couple of recent conventions, Salt Lake Gaming Convention and SaltCon, I came across a game that really fits the definition of a filler game.

Switch is a fast-paced, everyone play at once, game. It reminded me of a game we called Speed crossed over with some Crazy Eights. In Switch you are working to get rid of your hand as fast as possible into a central discard pile.

A hand starts with each player having a dealt hand that you turn over at the same time. Then you get rid of them as fast as possible. You start out with a condition to play cards, pairs, color (suit), or runs. You keep playing on the top of the discard pile until you can't play or a switch card is used to change the condition.

When I played we just played individual hands, but you can keep score to have your game last longer than just a hand. Many hands are completed in less than a minute. I also watched other playing and how many younger players really enjoyed the fast pace of the game and how short of time a hand took.

I can see there is a lot of potential to create your own house rules for discarding. You can also change hand size. You could also create different hand sizes to provide a balance between younger and older players. All of these, and other ideas, create a basic card game that can be played differently to keep the game fresh.

You might be waiting for only a few minutes and be looking for something to fill the gap of time. Or, you might need to fill a little more time. You could even play this between ordering your food and waiting for it to be served.

Switch is designed and distributed by Bored Brothers Gaming (Facebook link). It designed for 2–6 players, with no age listed, to last about 15 minutes (based on the games scoring system).

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Word Domination: Spelling Disaster, Game Review

Art by Ryan Goldsberry from Uproarious website

Criminal masterminds don't just have to worry about the good guys. There are only so many great treasures to take and other domineering deviants are going after them. You must devise your strategic maneuverings to position your plot in claiming the treasures available before the secondary scoundrels abscond with the booty. And, in so doing you not only secure the ancient and modern artifacts of the society, but promote the security of your position by establishing control of the territories.

Word Domination: Spelling Disaster is an area control game that uses your vocabulary as the mechanic to gain the spaces to earn points. However, having the great words at your disposal is only the means to the end. It is more about how you build the words to gain the spaces, not just using the biggest, grandest words you can come up with.

Each player takes on the role of one of the criminal masterminds who are vying against each other by capturing the space and stealing the great treasures of the world. The criminal character information gives players a unique advantage. Or, in the case when I played it, everyone is equal. This is a benefit for beginning and younger players. Word Domination is designed for 1–4 players with both cooperative and competitive rules.

We played a competitive game. On your turn you spell a word using the tiles in play. As the game progresses it becomes more important on the location of the tiles and not so much as what the word is. That's because you don't score for the word—it's the mechanic for capturing the space.

Along with playing a game against the developer (Jeff Beck), I had the opportunity of watching others play at SaltConthis year (2017). It was fun to watch as people realized the change in strategy because so many people are used to scoring the word. In fact, I saw one younger player give a solid run to a much older player by going for the basics they understood. It was a good example of how well the game is balanced.

There is also a lot of replayability with Word Domination. The letters that come into play vary, booth on the initial setup and as they are drawn into the game. Some of the tiles have special play options that you can use when you play a word using that letter. There is also the variability of the criminal personalities available.

I liked the twist of using words as the mechanic instead of the scoring mechanism. Another person playing the game (at a different time) commented how using this as the means to the end caused them to have to rethink what they were doing because they started out in the mode of looking for the words instead of the territories.

You've sharpened your thesaurus talents to stay a step ahead of the conniving competition. The master plan is made and now it is time to implement the scheme to take demonstrate you are the mastermind you have always known yourself to be.

Word Domination is designed by Jeff Beck and illustrated by Ryan Goldsberry and is from Uproarious Games. It is for 1–4 players and designed to last 30 – 60 minutes.

At the time of writing this the game has successfully completed a Kickstarted campaign and should soon be available on the market.

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Splat That!, Game Review

Chef Splat is in the kitchen working with eggs and chicken. He can't get everything done on his own, so he has his helpers watching out for him. With quick reflexes and fast action you can help the chef clear the kitchen.

Splat That! A deviled eggz game is a card game for 3–8 ages 5 and up. It is produced, designed, and illustrated by Jazwings. And, Jazwings is getting ready to put up on a Kickstarter campaign in February 2017.

I was sent a development copy of Splat That! and played with a couple of groups of players getting down close to the lower age limit. The younger players enjoyed playing the game and were able to learn it very quickly. Almost every one of them was already familiar with the mechanic used, which made it even better for them. Those who didn't know where quick to learn from the other players.

Chef Splat, Practical Yolker, and Dare Devil

Splat That! uses the mechanic of Slap Jack  or Snap played with standard playing cards. This game has some variations to take it a little further.

This has a 108 deck of cards; the size of two standard decks of playing cards with the jokers left in. The cards are distributed as evenly as possible between the players, then they take turns turning over a card onto a discard pile. The first player to get rid of all of their cards win. When Chef Splat is turned up on the discard pile the players need to slap the pile. The last person who slaps the pile places the all the cards in the discard pile into their personal deck. There are also other cards and events to watch for.

Some common Cards (one's upside down)

Along with Chef Splat there are other cards and the chance of a doubles play that create action. When doubles appear you slap those for the same results of having to pick up the pile. When a Cracked Egg is rolled over onto the discard pile the players need to crack an egg on their head, again the last to act gets the pile. There is also the Practical Yolker, he looks similar to Chef Splat, but you usually don't want to slap him (double rule). If you do, you get the pile. There are also cards that require hand changes and, making a player sit out for a period of time, another card allows you to not take an action required of you. There is also a card that can be used to dare other players (you don't have to use dares, which was good for one of our playtesting sessions).

Some specialty Cards

I grew up playing Slap Jack and War with regular playing cards and Splat That! is reminiscent of those days. The younger players enjoyed it, with the highest level of enjoyment with the 6–7 year olds. For the older player the game went quick enough, 15–30 minutes. Once the younger players understood how to play they were happy to have a game they could play on their own.

Splat That! would make a good cabin game since it is only the size of two standard decks of cards. We also noted that the more creative players were starting to come up with some rule ideas of their own.

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Paperback by Tim Fowers, Game Review

Coming up with the right words in the right situation is how you make it as a writer. The words don't need to be big fancy words, but words that tell the story. Starting out you may not be able to get the fancy words, but you can keep coming up with words to build your career.

Paperback puts you in the place of the writer: creating words, building your career, and looking for fame. You can't even start to earn fame until you get a little further along in your career.

This is a deck building game where players (2-5) start with the same ten cards. There are five consonants (L, N, R, S, T) and five wild cards. Using lettered cards earns you money. Using a hand of five cards you make a word, collect what it is worth, and then buy more cards to build your deck. Play continues until someone completes one of the game ending requirements.

You don't need a huge vocabulary to play Paperback. I played it with couple of different groups with ages starting at ten, which is the low end of the age range given for the game. Everyone enjoyed it, and the balance of the game was good. In two three-player games I as a writer and a friend who is known for his play in Scrabble were defeated both times by the third. That is because there is also a second level of strategy of gaining fame cards.

Fame cards are wild cards in your hand and count for points at the end. You can buy them and it is easier to make words, however, just like all the other wild cards they don't earn you anything for buying cards. So you have to balance the buying of letters and fame.

The game is designed take about 45 minutes. All of our games were under an hour. (We played games with 2, 3, and 4 players).

Paperback was designed by Tim Fowers and was his first release as an independent game developer. His follow up game is reviewed on Utah Geek Magazines website. Both are illustrated by Ryan Goldberry. The artwork adds to the fun feel of the game.

The first time we set up the game it took a little longer sorting out the cards. Learning the game was easy the first time and when teaching it to others. When the game was over, clean up was easy. Thought was put into not only the game, but its storage. The box design made setting up the next time we played quick and easy. The size also makes it easy to take to friends or when travelling.

There are variants you can also play with (themes, awards, and powers) which give additional challenges and goals to work into your word creation and strategy while building your deck.

Having played Fowers first two releases, I'm looking forward to what he is working on for his next game.

First published in Utah Geek Magazine.

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Garbage Day, Game Review

Between you and your roommates there is the unwritten rule that someone has to take out the trash. However, there is a second unwritten rule that the one who has to take it out is the one who gets caught overfilling the garbage can. The competition has gotten fierce as the week goes on and garbage day approaches. There is pieces hidden in everyone's bedrooms and the pile on top of the can is getting unsteady. Can you get away with balancing the pizza box on it? Or, maybe you can try hiding the banana peel in your room. Then again, maybe you can catch your roommate off guard and make them clean their room which might make the pile on top of the can tumble.

Garbage Day is a card game pitting players against each other in a game of strategy and dexterity. You take turns drawing a card and playing one to hide it in your room, make an opponent do something, or throwing it away in the garbage can. Deciding what to do when is part of the strategy, the other part is how you place the cards you are throwing away on the garbage can.

Every card has two holes punch in it. When you place a card on the garbage can, either by choice or being forced to, you have to place it so you can see the tabletop through both holes. It must remain on the garbage can. If it falls off, you have to collect it, and if you collect too many pieces you're out.

The Start

At the start of the game placing cards on the garbage can is easy enough to do, but you have to decide if you are going to place it in a way to create a stronger base, or one that may tip out more easily. Either way you choose may come back to haunt you later in the game.

Looking like a mushroom

We had three of us play several games of Garbage Day. The rules were easy to understand and we were able to start the first game easily. In the first game we played our early cards conservatively as we were figuring out how the game played out. It worked until one card tipped off. At that point there was an avalanche of cards that cleared most of the garbage from off the top of the can and forcing that player out. In our following games we took a placed cards further out, creating a less stable base on top of the can. When garbage fell off when the cards were played this way, fewer cards fell.

In either case people stopped sitting at the table as the game moved along for fear of knocking garbage out of the can. You see, there is a rule that if you cause garbage to fall, even if you are not placing a card, they go in your overflow pile.

I don't remember if we played three or four games, but we were all having fun. The Garbage Dayis designed for two to five players. We also have the Smelly Expansion which allows you to bring in a sixth roommate. With the Garbage Day played we all think there would be more chaos with more players and want to pull it out in front for our entire gaming group.

All of our games were finished before the 30 minute mark and the last one was less than 15. Making this a good game to have on hand as a filler game, or a cabin game. When showing this game to younger players they wanted to play based on the name and the garbage can the cards come in.

Garbage Day was designed by Shane Willis and distributed by Mayday Games. It is designed to take 30 minutes for 2–5 players of ages 8+.

Thanks to Mayday Games for the review copy.

One player out

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Modern Naval Battles - Global Warfare, Game Review

As the admiral of the fleet you have the responsibilities of directing the deployment of the ships, their attacks, and their defenses. Although it may seem like ships move slow, in the heat of combat, the pace is fast. With each maneuver there is a countermove. With each little change in the battle there are needed changes to your strategy.

Modern Naval Battles - Global Warfare has you controlling your fleet against up to five opponents. Each player chooses a country (there are nine to choose from) to represent, then, from the available ships, selects their fleet. Each fleet is deployed, and the battle begins.

Our initial play of the game went smooth. The rules were easy to understand and the cards are designed so information is easily visible. Players control a hand of seven cards, which is used to determine reinforcements, attacks, and defending. Because you use your hand for defending as well as taking other actions, after a player completes their turn, everyone replenishes their hands back to seven cards before the next player starts their turn. A round is completed, everyone taking a turn, before determining if a victory condition is met.

Some of the Ship Cards

The game is listed for an hour; our games took around 90 minutes. With a better understanding of how the game plays the turns could go quicker. Game length can also be altered by changing the sizes of the starting fleets, and altering the number of victory points needed. Since every player can be involved in every person's combat round by defending their own ships, the game keeps everyone involved. Also, since it is not dependent upon watching piece movement, the level of attention needed during game play is not as high.

Depending on the countries being represented you can face a force more technologically advanced. This can be easily overcome by having players choose countries similar in technology and size. Of course, pulling the unexpected victory can also turn a seemingly out-of-balance engagement quickly. Another way of dealing with these types of scenarios is to develop different victory conditions.

There are several scenarios presented in the rulebook. Starting with those, it is easy enough to make alterations and create your own scenarios. Information on the ship cards also allow for designing scenarios for specific time frames. Just remember not all of the ships of a countries fleet are represented, so designing scenarios to specific battles may not be possible (I know there expansions).

Some of the Action Cards

Modern Naval Battles - Global Warfare played well. The strategy was engaging as each person worked on determining how to attack—in a free for all you have to determine if you are going to go for an injury, and possibly let another player get the kill, and victory points. You can also negotiate to focus jointly on an overwhelming force.

With nine fleets, and 110 ships represented, there is good replay-ability, even when doing the same scenario. The choosing of the fleet is a major component. Balance is maintained with everyone replenishing their hand after every battle. As one fleet started taking more damage, the result became a little predictable, but attacks and defenses are determine by rolling a die, and there were some interesting turn of events.

Modern Naval Battles - Global Warfare from Dan Verssen Games was designed by Dan Verssen for 2–6 players, and expected to last an hour.

Thanks to Dan Verssen Games and Utah Geek Magazine for the review copy.

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Dead Man's Draw and Captain Carcass, Game Review

Pirates like to collect treasure. The more treasure they get, the happier they are. But, how do you go about collecting your booty? Do you collect a piece or two at a time, or push on to see if you can get a bigger haul at one time? If you try to get too much, you might lose everything you had lined up to put in your hull.

I first time I heard about Dead Man's Draw a friend mentioning how his kids loved to play it—an electronic game. I recently received a copy of the tabletop version of Dead Man's Draw along with Captain Carcass. So I sat down with three friends and we played a few games.

The strategy of these games is easy to learn. On your turn, turn over a card from the deck and place it in the play area. After the first card you have to decide to either collect the treasure, or draw another card. If the card is the same suit as a previous draw, you bust, and all the cards are moved to the discard pile. If there is no matching suit, you have to decide to continue or stop and collect.

The deck has ten suits. Each suit has a play-affecting aspect that must be followed before deciding if you are going to stop or continue. This allows for strategy as you might have to place a card you collected previously, relieve an opponent of one of their cards, or add cards to the play area, which could bust you. Along with the playing deck there are additional trait and situational cards.

The additional cards allow for variations from one game to the next. The Trait cards allow the player a specified ability during play. The variant cards (only in Dead Man's Draw) change an aspect of the game: how the cards bust, are banked, scoring, or another end game aspect.

The only other difference between the two games is Dead Man's Draw is listed for ages 13+, while Captain Carcass is listed for ages 8+. The reasoning is the artwork and the strategy changes introduced when using the variants. Both games are close to the popular electronic version of the game.

Playing Dead Man's draw reminded me of Pina Pirata (Guild Master Gaming review) These two games gave me the same feel, making them great games to have around for younger players.

Dead Man's Drawand Captain Carcass, from Mayday Games, were designed by Derek Paxton, Leo Li, and Chris Bray for 2–4 players. A game last for about 15 minutes.

I would like to thank Mayday Games for the review copies.

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Martial Art, Game Review

The clans of Japan are assembling to determine which has rightful leadership. As your clan's leader you must take charge and organize everyone for the upcoming battles. It is your decision of who should fight now and who should be held back for later battles. But, there is more than just sending your warriors forth into battle, you can work on building greater reserves or use treacherous twists to deceive.

Martial Art is the second game to come from Spider Goat Games (their first game was Gangster Dice—review from 2014). And Spider Goat Games is working to maintain the quality of an easy to learn, quick-play game.

Martial Art pits players against each other, battling for control of significant locations. The mechanic is one most people are very familiar with, the same mechanic as in the card game War. However, Martial Art includes hand management, bluffing, and conditional effects that occur depending on the land being fought over, and the cards being played.

Each turn the players battle for a place (as identified on the land card). Some of the lands have effects that come into play alter events, like for Sagami, "After the battle, the player with the lowest strength may take a card from the discard pile, including those this round." And, some of the battle cards also effect play.

Two of us sat down at the table to learn Martial Art. The rules are easy to learn and we were able to start playing quickly. Because the mechanics of the game are something we understood, the only thing causing us to slow down at all was reading the conditional effects to decide if we wanted to use the particular card that round.

Once the land card was revealed, we saw if it had any effect on the battle. Then we selected our battle cards, deciding if there were any we could, and wanted to play, prior to the battle, and which card we wanted to bring into the battle directly. There is also an option of "forgoing" the battle to create a larger hand to choose from later. The cards are placed face down, that is the bluffing part; each player decides their action without knowing what the other players are attempting.

Once the cards are revealed the battle is concluded and any after battle effects are completed. Once one player has achieved a victory condition based on the land cards, the game ends. In our games we never ran completely through the deck.

Since this is a straightforward card game, it plays quickly. We were able to get several games played while we were filling in the time waiting for others of our gaming group. Set up and clean up are also quick. Since you are working with a pack of cards (or 2 for playing the 3-4 player variation), they are easy to have packed away in the game bag, backpack, or suitcase to have ready for a quick game anywhere.

The artwork on the cards is wonderful (classical Japanese). While finishing up, the art work was enough to get other players interested in wanting to learn the game.

Spider Goat Games is bringing another good game to have handy for the spare moments you want to fill. They are starting a Kickstarter campaign in the month of June 2016.

Thanks to Spider Goat Games for a copy of the prototype for review.

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