The Good Not So Good

I don't normally do negative reviews of games, simply put this blog is about the games I like and recommend and generaly if I don't like a game I stick it on a shelf and quickly forget the reasons why moving on to better things. There are however several games I have played in the past few months that I simply didn't like and while Im not going to go into detailed reviews, here a few thoughts on some of the games that just didn't do it for me.

Last Night On Earth

I had an oppertunity to play this game a few times in recent weeks and I have to say, while I loved the concept and the exceptionaly high quality parts I just couldn't find much to like about this games mechanics. I was actually quite suprised to see so many positive reviews of this game on boardgamegeek.com and although its average score is at about a 7.5 out of 10 on that site, I personaly would rank it a few points below that. The game is simple enough, one player acts for the zombies and the rest of the players take on the personas of the sterotypical zombie movie survivors , aka Cheerleader, Football Jock, Preacher etc.. The simple combat game has the survivors running around the board equiping themselves as they kill zombies and perform any number of missions depending on the scenario of the game. To me this game just felt like it was missing a layer of complexity for it to be entertaining. The fights were grossly based on pure luck (dice rolls) and each game boiled down to the survivors doing pretty much the same thing which is to find the best weapons possible and avoiding packs of zombies, especially in melee combat. In the company of friends joking around and roleplaying their characters and zombies the game was tolerable but all and all I really can't recommend this one as anything more then a entertaining ruse, especially considering the hefty 40+ dollar price tag.

Runebound
Another game that has managed to get a fair following despite itself and considerable support with dozens of expansions already out. This one I played quite a bit when it was first released and recently a friend of mine pulled it out and we played a couple of rounds. I can understand the appeal of adventure games like Runebound, it sort of offers a short version of what roleplaying games are like for people who just don't have the time to commit to a roleplaying game. For me however, as a roleplayer when I play adventure games of this type which basicaly boil down to 'Kill Stuff, Loot Stuff, Level Up' I find myself wondering why we aren't just playing D&D or some other roleplaying game who's mechanics and feel are going to be considerably better. Even more so today with great adventure board games like Descent available. Runebound is a simple game, move your character around the board to adventuring site and fight whatever is there to gain experiance in an ultimate goal to acomplish a overall mission. The mission depends on the expansion set your playing with but generaly its just a boss monster at the end to defeat. It has some clever mechanics and plenty of interesting equipment and gadgets to peek the interest of any role player, but it very quickly wares out its welcome when you realize that there really isn't much strategy involved and the scenarios favor the player making it quite easy to beat the game. Playable, albeit it repetative, I certainly cano not recommend it if for no other reason then that the replay value is extremly limited. The only way to get a 'new' game feel is to constantly buy expansions which might explain why there are so many. For great adventure games I strongly suggest you look at games like Descent: Journeys in the dark and its various expansions.

Settlers of Catan
When I decided to add Settlers of Catan to this list of games i don't like I thought for certain I would stand alone. With an enormous following beloved by thousands this game is practicaly mainstream at this point. Its worth noting however that even on BoardGameGeek.com this game has recieved a 7.5 stars making it a middle of the road review for such an overwhelmingly popular game on one of the largest review sites for board games. I have played this game on a number of occassions however hoping to find what it is so many love about it but while I normally like Euro designed games, this one seems to me at the very least to be quite dull and very simpleton. I can see the strategy involved, but all and all its a game of luck which can often beat you despite you playing a wise strategy, a frustration I find to be quite often true with most of the Catan games which use die rolls to determine the resources you'll get to work with and build your strategy. The flaw in that is that if the dice don't roll your way your options are extremly limited, sometimes even non existant. The other thing I don't like about Settlers is that once you fall behind you stay behind, its a game which is very difficult to make a come back in. With that said I have to admit that I find the games overal concept quite appealing even if its mechanics miss the mark and I went out on a limb and purchased another game from the Catan line called Starship Catan.


Starship Catan, a better alternative to Settlers
Starship Catan is a two player game, using some similiar mechanics, albeit it toned down enough to eliminate the element of luck that you have in Settlers leaving far more to the players strategy. In StarShip Catan you are one of two space traders that has been lost in a distant galaxy and you are trying to find your way home. The local alien races are willing to help you for a price. The game is about you trying to raise the money you need to acomplish the various tasks for the alien races so they will show you the way home. You compete against another player by gathering resources, upgrading your ship and exploring the galaxy. The mechanics of the game are simple to learn and fun to play, its one of the few two player games I find myself playing very regularly. Again many of the concepts of Catan are in this game, but without the overbearing luck element. While only a two player game there is a Catan game which I believe this game was loosely based on, or at least inspired by called StarFarers of Catan. I have never played it but its definitly on my list.