💍 "I told you he was tricksy..." Asmodee and Office Dog are in the process of releasing a complete trilogy of trick-taking games based on the book The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring Trick-Taking Game , was released early this year to much acclaim, and a sequel based on The Two Towers is scheduled to release in January—although there will be pre-launch release events this month—and you can bet your sweet bippy that I will be acquiring a copy as soon as possible. I adore the first game, and not just because it combines one of my favorite gameplay mechanics with one of my favorite IPs. It is, in fact, an excellent adaptation of the source material as well as being a very refined and inventive game engine that is heavily thematic. And if there's one thing that I love as much as trick-taking games and The Lord of the Rings , it's thematic storytelling! In fact, I would go so far as to say that this specific game...
🗺️ I Can See For Miles and Miles... A message from an entity known as "The Traveler" has lured you to an uncharted planet. While orbiting, your spaceship suddenly malfunctions. The crew jump into their individual escape pods and are sent scattering down to the corners of the planet's surface. While you're unlikely to find each other, you have radio contact and can share information and skills in order to help each other out. Gather items, vehicles, quests, and what-have-you in order to complete your mission and/or fulfill your destiny. Vantage is a cooperative exploration game for 1-6 players from Stonemeier, creators of Wingspan and Scythe . It just released and I happened to get a copy very quickly after orders went live, so while many people are waiting on theirs, I've managed to get a few plays in, and I wanted to share my thoughts. I want to be clear that this is not a review. I've played it twice at two players and only feel like I've scratched t...