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Machi Koro: It’s Tough Being A Leader

Machi Koro is a card game with a story we can all relate to: the struggle that comes with being in charge. In Machi Koro, you play a character who has just been elected as the first mayor of the city. But don’t think that just because you’re leading a small town means things will be simple. Your job as mayor is to help your citizens grow your small community into a bustling new metropolitan with a radio tower, theme park, and other fun new features. Get your die ready as you build Machi Koro into the city of your dreams.

Cards, Coins, Dice

The tools of Machi Koro are a set of cards, coins, and a pair of dice. The game is played by 2-4 players, with each player racing to be the first mayor to build the four landmarks in their town. The landmarks that your citizens so desperately desire are as follows: a Train Station, a Shopping Mall, a Radio Tower, and an Amusement Park.

To begin the game, you only have a Wheat Field and a Bakery. Your job is to collect income and roll the dice to build these landmarks before your competition beats you to it. In order to build, you have to pay the cost. You start the game with $3 in coins, collecting income whenever you or another player roll the dice to match specific numbers. These are the activation numbers for each of your establishments.

In Machi Koro, there are four types of establishments. Each comes with certain activation requirements that allow you to earn income based on the roll of the dice. Restaurants get activated by your opponents’ rolls, meaning if another player rolls a three and you have a Café with an activation number of 3, they give you coins. Primary industries are activated at any turn, earning you money straight from the bank.

Secondary industries and Major Establishments are activated on your turn. When a Secondary industry is activated, you collect money from the bank. But when a Major Establishment is activated, you perform the actions on the card.

Build, Build, Build

You’ll need to build more than just the four landmarks needed to win the game. You’re allowed to construct one building at the end of each turn, either choosing a building from your supply or an unconstructed landmark. A building earns you income, while a landmark activates a special ability. The Train Station lets you roll two dice instead of one, while the Shopping Mall earns extra income for establishments with cup or shop icons. The Amusement Park allows you to take two turns when rolling doubles, while the Radio Tower gives you the option of rolling twice.

Machi Koro Expansions and Spinoffs

Machi Koro has come out with a couple of expansion packs and spinoffs that add a fun twist to the themes and mechanics of the game. Machi Koro: Millionaire’s Row adds a new mechanic called Renovation, which stops certain establishments in your supply from being activated. Machi Koro: Harbor Expansion adds three more landmarks to the game, including City Hall, the Harbor, and the Airport. It also allows you to play with up to five players instead of four.

Machi Koro Fussball involves building a stadium to host the World Cup, which is a fun theme for anyone who loves soccer. There’s also a cool sequel card game called Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City that involves building the most popular new tourist destination around! This sequel game is much more fast-paced and allows up to five players.

Be the Best Leader You Can Be with Machi Koro

Machi Koro is playable by 2-4 players, which makes it a great game for one-on-one play as well as small groups. If you’re looking to expand gameplay, you can always pick up one of the spinoffs or expansions to play with up to five players. Playing time lasts around 30 minutes, which makes it easily accessible to newer players just getting used to the rules. The game is suitable for ages 10, and up, so most kids and adults will be able to enjoy the game together.

Buy Machi Koro today and be the mayor you always knew you could be!

 

Murder Mystery Party: A Whodunit For The Ages

If you’re a fan of whodunits, then chances are you’ve heard of Murder Mystery Party. The series of board games has been turning average citizens into armchair detectives since the first entry in 1984. From Murder Mystery Party: Lethal Luau to Murder Mystery Party: A Taste for Wine and Murder, this board game series has been a source of fun and intrigue that places a delightful spin on the classic murder mystery genre. Get into costume, learn your lines, and send out the invitation to your closest friends as you try to solve a murder.

Murder Mystery Party: A Taste For Wine And Murder

Murder Mystery Party: A Taste for Wine and Murder is one of the most popular editions of the series, offering you the classic setup with a backdrop of California Wine Country. Among these peaceful vineyards and picturesque wineries hides a plotting murderer. At the annual wine-tasting festival the attendees are shocked to discover the body of Barry Underwood, the local vineyard owner, beneath his wine cellar. Players will have to figure out who among them is responsible for this dastardly deed.

In this edition of Murder Mystery Party, the suspects are Otton von Schnapps, Marilyn Merlot, Tiny Bubbles, Ralph Rottingrape, Pape Vito, and Hedy Shablee. There are also two more optional characters for games of eight players. Each player (suspect) will get a Character Booklet that includes their roles and background information. The game also comes with a party planner with recipes and a menu as well as tips on music and decorating. It even comes with eight party invitations and envelopes to send to your unsuspecting guests.

Players will use eight place cards to mark their spot at the table, as well as six secret clues that can help point to the killer. A cassette tape (or CD in recent versions) will provide an introduction, summary of events, and the solution to the crime. The host will direct the players alongside the CD to act out their parts and read certain dialogue (while hamming it up as best they can). Once the game is over, everyone will make their accusations until the CD reveals the actual murderer.

The fun of the game comes from acting your part, as character booklets provide you with interesting character traits that can be fun to play around with. You can even try out an accent to impress (or annoy) your fellow players–it’s all up to you! All the important parts are scripted, so the essential parts of the game will all be kept intact. With this particular edition of Murder Mystery Party, the roles are delightfully campy and all in good fun.

More Murder Mystery Party

There are many other editions of Murder Mystery Party that have been released through the years. Murder Mystery Party Case Files: Fire in Adlerstein was released in 2018 with a shorter playing time and the ability to be played by 1-5 players. This edition comes with both physical and digital parts to be used for investigation. Players can either play in cooperative mode or competition mode to find the criminal. The game is designed to be like a realistic criminal case, making you feel like a real police officer as you conduct your investigation.

If you’re a disco fan, then you’ll love Murder Mystery Party: Stayin’ Alive. This edition is set in trendy Studio Manhattan, where dance sensation Jackie Fever has just been murdered. With hilarious characters such as disco champ John Revolting and martial arts expert Bruce Leap, you’ll have a blast you won’t soon forget.

Throw Yourself A Murder Mystery Party

Murder Mystery Party is usually playable by 6-8 players, so it’s a good game for a dinner party for small groups. Playing time is about three hours, so you should definitely plan to make an evening of it. Ages 16 and up can play most editions of Murder Mystery Party, which makes it a good choice for adult friend groups of most ages. Murder Mystery Party comes in so many varieties that you’ll be sure to find something to your liking. Buy Murder Mystery Party today and enjoy the thrill of the chase!

 

The Farming Game: If Monopoly Had Cows

If you’ve ever felt drawn to the soil and the sun, you might just have farming in your blood. With The Farming Game, you can take your green thumb and use it to your advantage. This fun and eccentric board game gives you the opportunity to build your very own farm, allowing you to choose which crops to harvest and manage all the expenses that come with it. Do you have what it takes to farm your way out of debt and win the game?

Option to Buy

The Farming Game begins with each character inheriting their very own piece of farmland and $10,000. Congratulations! You play the game on a board that’s laid out with 52 spaces, each representing one week out of the year. The first space is labeled Christmas Vacation, which gives you the initial $10,000 with which to purchase crops and cows.

A big portion of The Farming Game is left up to fate. Players will have to grow their farms through Option To Buy (OTB) cards that tell you what you’re allowed to buy, some of which may then prove fruitful after the harvest. OTB cards consist of different crops and cows that you can use your money to purchase up until you reach the Spring Planting Space.

You’re allowed to go into debt with this board game, as you have the option of taking out promissory notes to purchase property and resources. You do have to put up a deposit of 20% for purchases, however, so you can’t go into unlimited debt. Still, you’ll have to be willing to take on a good amount of debt at the beginning of the game if you want to have a fruitful harvest and be the first to earn $250,000.

After the Harvest

Once you pass the Spring Planting space, you’re no longer allowed to purchase cropland. However, you can now harvest some of your crops when you land on certain spaces. The way this works is that you roll a die when you land on a harvest space, which then earns you a certain amount of money depending on the number you roll.

You will have to deal with certain price fluctuations and business costs come harvest season, however. Things like fertilizer, equipment breakdowns, and labor problems can all gum up the works and put you even further in the red after the harvest. As you roll the die and move along the board, you’ll be placing your fate in the hands of Mother Nature to give you a plentiful harvest and help you rake in the big bucks.

The Farming Game is similar to Monopoly in its use of buying and selling things with paper money. However, this board game takes on a life of its own as its farming theme really adds a unique touch of life to the game. The use of debt is also an interesting component that raises the stakes of your gamble and allows for even bigger wins.

The Farming Game Spinoffs

There have been a few spinoffs of The Farming Game that turn this fun Monopoly-like game into something completely different. With The Farming Game Card Game, your fate rests on the Farmer’s Fate card instead of a playing board as you bid for and purchase crops and enhancements. Similar to the original game, you’ll have to roll the dice to see whether or not your harvest bears fruit.

There’s also a kids version of The Farming Game called The Farming Game Kids that has three levels depending on the age of the child. Level one is for ages 3-5, level two is for ages 5-7, and level three is for ages 7-9. Each level comes with its own rules for winning, allowing you to roll red and white dice while collecting and selling produce cards.

The Farming Game

The Farming Game is playable by 2-6 players, making it a good board game for families of all sizes. It’s suitable for ages 10 and up, as younger players may have difficulty understanding the rules. Playing time lasts around 2 hours, so it’s definitely a time commitment. Buy The Farming Game and enjoy the fruits of your labors!

 

Munchkin: The Card Game for Monster-Killers and Backstabbers

Does the idea of killing monsters and stealing from your friends sound like a good time to you?  If so, you’ll love the hilarious card game Munchkin, a D&D-inspired game that takes the dungeon experience and flips it on its head.  Grab the Horny Helmet and vanquish the Plutonium Dragon to level up in this fantastic card game that will keep you laughing the entire time.

Kicking Down the Door

In Munchkin, each player begins their turn by “kicking down the door”, which involves drawing a Door Card from random.  Door Cards belong to several different categories.  The first are Curse Cards, which give you a certain negative effect.  If you have the bad luck to draw a Curse Card, you may end up having to forfeit your turn or go back a certain number of levels.  These usually come with funny little drawings such as the “Duck of Doom”, which curses you for being silly enough to pick up a duck in a dungeon (what were you thinking?)

Door Cards can also be Item, Race, or Class Cards that you get to add to your hand to be played at a future time.  These can be helpful in attacking opponents during their turns or in giving yourself a valuable boost in fighting monsters.  The last kind of Door Card is a Monster Card, which pits you against a ferocious creature in an opportunity to either level up or suffer the consequences.

Level Up but Don’t Get Killed

Munchkin begins with all players starting at level 1.  Whoever is the first to reach level 10 is declared the winner, but you’ll have to fight off some monsters if you want to level up.  Monster fights will pit your total level against the level of the monster to decide who wins the round.  The real excitement of the game comes from the fact that your fellow players can either choose to help you defeat the monster (in exchange for Treasure Cards) or add another monster to the mix to try and crush you.

If you win the fight and defeat the monster, you can draw a certain amount of Treasure Cards and level up.  If you lose, however, you’ll have to roll the dice to try and get away.  Anything less than a five will force you to deal with the “Bad Stuff” on the monster card, which can result in losing levels or Treasure Cards.  You may even die as a result of losing the battle, which doesn’t disqualify you from the game but does force you to end your turn and draw a new hand for equipment.

Munchkins Sequels and Expansions

Munchkin has spawned countless sequels that can be played on their own or added to the original game for an even wilder good time.  Munchkin Adventure Time is based on everyone’s favorite show on Cartoon Network, incorporating art and characters from the series.  Munchkin Booty sets the game on the high seas, forcing you to battle vividly drawn pirates drawn by Guest Artist Tom Siddell.  Expansions such as Munchkin Apocalypse add natural disasters, zombie takeovers, and alien invasions in addition to new mechanics for more complex gameplay.

Kill, Steal, and Stab: The Munchkin Way

Munchkin is playable by 3-6 players, so it’s definitely well suited for small to medium groups of friends who’ve grown tired of playing the traditional Dungeons and Dragons card game.  Newcomers to card games will also find plenty to love with the simple rules and amazing illustrations done by John Kovalic, which add a unique level of style and fun to the game.

Munchkin is suitable for ages 10 and up, so families can definitely get a kick out of all that it has to offer.  With a playing time of one to two hours, you can make an entire night out of a game without losing interest.  Thanks to its potential for cooperation and ruthless backstabbing, Munchkin is a game that can make or break friendships in an instant.  If you’re looking for a game with humor, strategy, and excellent artwork, Munchkin and any one of its numerous expansions will provide countless hours of fun.

 

Carcassonne: A Blast From the Medieval Past

You may have heard about Carcassonne, the medieval fortified town in southern France famous for its impressive outer walls.  Every year countless people flock to this historical city to learn about its rich history and explore its many towers.  But you don’t have to fly all the way to France for a blast to the medieval past!  The city of Carcassonne inspired a tile-based board game of the same name that lets you experience the world of knighthood through building landscapes and fortifying your city.

Build Your City with Carcassonne

Carcassonne uses a game board with a medieval landscape that the players will build piece by piece throughout the games.  Turn by turn, each player will draw a new terrain tile as the outer city begins to materialize.  Skill and cunning are required if you’re going to complete your cities, cloisters, and roads that earn you those valuable points.

Tiles can only connect to other like tiles—grass to grass, city to city, road to road.  Certain tiles are a combination of multiple types of areas, which means that no two completed games are going to look identical.  This variety makes Carcassonne feel fresh and new every time you break out the box for a new game.

Score Points From Your Followers

Just because you built a new road or city doesn’t mean it’s yours to keep!  You’ll have to claim your land by placing your little followers on a tile once it’s been placed.  These little followers are also called “meeples”, and add a cute visual element to the game with little bright red or yellow wooden figures.  

Your meeple will differ based on where you place it: knights defend cities, robbers defend the roads, and farmers defend the grass.  Once you’ve placed your meeple on a completed area, they’ll score you points and get you one step closer to winning the game.

Scoring points isn’t always so straightforward, however.  Just as you have to be quick to place followers before someone else steals your land out from under you, you also have an opportunity to steal from your fellow players.  A major part of the fun of Carcassonne is claiming your opponent’s land before they have a chance to.

Carcassonne Expansions and Spinoffs

While Carcassonne was inspired by the medieval French city, the game itself has also inspired a series of expansions and spinoffs.  The first expansion adds inns and cathedrals to the mix, making the game more complex for people who are looking for something a little more challenging.  With The Princess & The Dragon expansion, Carcassonne transforms into a mythical and mystical game that pits benevolent fairies against fire-breathing dragons in a fight to rescue the princess.

If medieval times don’t go back far enough for you, Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is a spinoff that will take you back to the time when cavemen painted on walls and wooly mammoths roamed the earth.  Or, if you’re looking for something a little out of this world, the Carcassonne: Star Wars spinoff takes you to a land far far away where the evil Empire fights the virtuous Rebel Alliance.  If you’ve grown up playing the basic game of Carcassonne, you’ll love the combined sense of nostalgia and fun that comes from one of these countless spinoffs.

Go Back In Time with Carcassonne

Carcassonne is a board game that’s simple enough for ages 7 and up, so it’s definitely something that the entire family can enjoy.  Gameplay also usually lasts between 30 to 45 minutes, so it isn’t something that’s going to take up the entire night, either.  While the basic game isn’t incredibly complex, the spinoffs offer additional elements that will make the game advanced enough for adults to enjoy playing without the kids.

If you’ve ever felt drawn to the era of knights and chivalry, then Carcassonne is the game for you.  The randomness of the tile drawing provides endless possibilities that can take the game in any number of directions.  You’ll love the fast paced turns and heartless double crosses of this high stakes tile-based board game.  Step into the past and build your medieval French city with Carcassonne!

 

Five Crowns: The Game Isn’t Over ‘Til The Kings Go Wild!

Most card games involve your standard deck of playing cards, but that’s not enough for Five Crowns. This card game goes one step further by adding a fifth suit, throwing even more chaos into the clash of the royals. Five Crowns is played similar to the card game Rummy, although it’s a lot simpler and comes with beautifully designed cards. If you’re looking for a card game that’s fun for the whole family, then Five Crowns is the game for you.

Books, Straights, and Melds

In each hand, your goal is to make a set of cards (which is called a meld). However, the thing that sets this card game apart from Rummy is that the number of cards it takes to make a meld changes each hand. The number of cards you’re allowed to hold each round is equal to the number of cards you need to make a meld.

While on the first hand you need only three cards for your set, the number of cards increases by one each round all the way to thirteen in the last and eleventh hand. In order to make a valid meld, you need either a book or a straight. While a book is three or more cards of the same value, a straight is three or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order.

Throughout each hand, players will draw and discard one card at a time in order to try to make their meld. Once a player has successfully made a meld, the rest of the players have one final turn before the hand ends. Any cards that don’t get used to make a meld work against you, earning you points based on the face value of the card. Whichever player has the lowest score after the end of the eleventh hand wins the overall game.

Wild Cards

One of the twists of Five Crowns is that it comes with a number of wild cards that can help you make your meld. There are two joker cards that can be used however you please in any round. In addition to these joker cards, each round has a different wild card based on the number of cards you hold in your deck during the round. So, for example, the first round requires three cards in a meld, which means that threes are wild.

Another thing that sets Five Crowns apart from Rummy is that Five Crowns comes with an additional fifth suit, which is stars. There’s also no ace or deuce in the deck like you’d find in a normal deck of cards. The beautiful illustration of the cards is definitely one of the most alluring aspects of the game, as they go above and beyond a simple deck of cards you would use to play a game like Rummy.

Five Crowns Spinoffs

Five Crowns comes with several spinoff card games. Five Crowns Junior simplifies the game into only five hands, making it easier for younger players to learn. Instead of scoring points at the end of each hand and adding them up at the end, players will earn a treasure chest for winning each hand. The player with the most treasure chests at the end of the game wins.

Five Crowns Mini Round also simplifies the game by using fewer cards, although its biggest trait is the fact that it comes with tiny cards in a little tin. This makes the card game easy to travel with and play on the go.

Five Crowns: Rummy with a Twist

Five Crowns is playable by 1-7 players, so it’s just as good to play on your own as it is for the whole family. This card game is suitable for ages 8 and up, which makes it a good game to use to teach younger players how to collect sets and manage their hands. Playing time lasts around 30 minutes, so you can easily play a game or two on a weeknight or before dinner.

Five Crowns is perfect for fans of Rummy who are looking for something a bit simpler for the kids. Buy Five Crowns today and join the clash of the kings!

 

Poop: Where UNO and Poop Jokes Combine

If you’ve ever wished that card games would involve more poop jokes, you’re not alone. Poop is relatively similar to the card game UNO in that players are all laying down cards in a stack in order to get rid of all of their cards and empty their hand. However, Poop stands out for its silly humor, creative designs, and of course, poop jokes. 

The silhouette artwork for the game is definitely one of the funniest aspects, making kids and adults alike laugh out loud at its silly humor. From the flies buzzing around to the appearance of corn in some of the cards, Poop does not shy away from all the hilarity that comes from joking about poop.

Don’t Clog the Toilet

The way the card game works is that each player is dealt a hand of five cards, with players taking turns laying their cards down in the toilet (essentially “pooping”). However, players must be sure not to clog the toilet, because whoever clogs it is forced to pick up the whole poop stack!

Each poop card has a certain number on it, while toilets are represented with cards that have a certain number on them indicating the total amount of poop it can withstand before clogging. For example, if the number on the toilet is 8 and the first two players put down a 2 and a 4, then the next player better play a 1 if they want to avoid clogging the toilet.

Flushing the Toilet

There is a way to avoid clogging the toilet and forcing someone to pick up the poop stack. If three poop cards of the same color are played in a row, then the toilet flushes and the cards are discarded. Everyone except for the flusher is then forced to take a new card, with the flusher leading the next round by laying down a new card.

Wild Cards

There’s more to Poop than just poop cards and toilets, though. Like UNO, Poop comes with reverse cards and skip cards that can change the flow of the game and land someone unexpected with a clogged toilet. The real highlight of the card game, however, comes from the wild cards. These cards force you to take a certain action every time you lay down a card.

For example, if you lay down a wild card that asks you to wash your hands or make a splashing sound, you’ll have to do that every single time you play a card. If you forget, then other players can call you out and force you to draw a new card! Luckily, you won’t have to do it forever, as the next person to lay down a wild card with that same action will take it over from you.

Poop Spinoffs

Poop has a couple of funny spinoffs that take the poop jokes to a higher level. Poop: Party Pooper Edition works as both a stand-alone version of Poop as well as a version that you can integrate with the original to allow up to 10 players. This spinoff comes with new interactive wild cards and higher flow toilets that make the game even more fun.

The spinoff Poop: Public Restroom Edition goes even further by giving you three toilets to play with at once. It also adds things like plungers, septic tanks, and occupied signs to add more complexity to the mechanics of the game.

Embrace Your Silly Side with Poop

Poop is playable by 2-5 players, although you can integrate it with one of the spinoffs to allow up to 10 players at once. It’s definitely suitable for both kids and adults, as it was designed by kids and adults together. Anyone ages 5 and up can enjoy the hilarity of Poop! Playing time lasts around 15 minutes, so it’s an easy card game to play a few rounds of on a school night or at a party.

The makers of Poop have also included rules in the game that turn Poop into a drinking game, which can be a great way to spice up any party. Give in to your inner child and buy Poop today!

 

 

The Great Dalmuti: Make Your Way Through the Middle Ages

There’s a reason we have the saying that something is “positively Medieval”. The Middle Ages were a time of artistic suppression and oppressive social hierarchy. This may have made for a terrible living situation, but it certainly provides fodder for an imaginative and inventive card game. The Great Dalmuti takes on the classism of the Middle Ages by casting characters as different members of society in an effort to rise through the ranks and be crowned the Great Dalmuti.

Play or Pass

The Great Dalmuti comes with a deck of 80 cards. Each card ranks from 1-12, with the lower the number, the better the rank. There are as many cards in each rank as the number of the rank, meaning there’s only one 1 card, there are two 2s, three 3s, and so on. The Great Dalmuti also includes two Jesters, which are the wild cards of the game that can be played with any of the other cards.

The goal of The Great Dalmuti is to be the first person to get rid of all the cards in your hand. You’ll play the cards in sets of the same rank, starting with the leader. The next player must play the exact same number of cards from a lower rank. This means if the first player sets down three 8s, then the next player must set down three cards ranked 7 or below. 

If you can’t set down any cards, then you can pass. Once all of the players have passed and no one can lay down any more cards, the next round begins. The last person to lay down cards from the previous round becomes the next round’s leader. This is a major advantage, as you get to set the pace for the rest of the round.

Becoming the Great Dalmuti

Whoever becomes the first person to successfully lay down all of their cards gets crowned the Great Dalmuti. Being crowned the Great Dalmuti is an excellent honor, as you get to lead the next hand. But the rest of the players each have their own roles as well, dictated by where they sit in relation to the Great Dalmuti. 

The player to their left is known as the Lesser Dalmuti, while the last person to play is known as the Greater Peon. The second to last player is called the Lesser Peon, and everyone in the middle is a simple merchant. The ranking system is not only symbolic of the classism in the Middle Ages but also has actual implications for the game. Both Peons are “taxed” at the beginning of each hand, being forced to cough up one or two of their lowest ranking cards to exchange with the two Dalmutis for cards from their hand.

However, there is a chance for social justice. If one player gets dealt both Jesters, they can call a revolution and suspend the taxes for the turn. If the Greater Peon gets both Jesters, they can call for a Greater Revolution and swap roles with the Dalmutis. This adds a fun element of chaos to the game that can upend your strategy and reverse the luck just when you need it the most.

The Great Dalmuti Spinoff

The Great Dalmuti has a spinoff version of the game titled Dilbert: Corporate Shuffle, a card game that features beloved cartoon character Dilbert as he tries to climb his way up the corporate ladder. This spinoff to The Great Dalmuti adds a few new cards and rules while featuring unique Dilbert comics that add to the aesthetic and humor of the game.

The Great Dalmuti: A Medieval Card Game with Modern Day Fun

The Great Dalmuti is playable by 4-8 players, although it’s generally best as a party game with at least 6 players. It’s also suitable for ages 8 and up, so it’s great for kids’ parties as well as adults. Playing time lasts around 60 minutes, although you can pretty much play however many rounds you like. 

The Great Dalmuti stands out with gorgeously illustrated cards and fast-paced gameplay mechanics. Take a trip to the Middle Ages and enjoy the beautiful illustrations of The Great Dalmuti! Buy it today!

 

Chess: The Original Game Of War

Chess is the kind of game that separates the men from the boys. While most board games try to ease in newer players as they learn the game, Chess throws you right into the center of the battlefield. Warring kings send their loyal subjects to capture the enemy’s forces and defeat their rivals in this classic yet enduring board game. The opportunity for endless strategies and maneuvers makes Chess the kind of game where no two plays are alike.

Moving the Pieces

As difficult as Chess is to master, it’s incredibly simple to learn. Each piece on the board has its own unique movement that it can use to traverse the board and capture your opponent’s pieces. While the pawns can only move forward one space (or two spaces on the first move), they can only attack diagonally. Bishops can move an unlimited number of diagonal spaces, while rooks can move an unlimited number of spaces left and right.

The knight can move in an L-shape of three spaces forward and then two spaces perpendicular, although you can aim the direction of their movement either forward, to the back, or to the side. The queen is the most powerful piece on the board, capable of moving an unlimited number of spaces in any one direction.

However, the whole game is centered around the king. Although the king can only move one space in any direction, he must be protected at all costs. If another player captures your king, it’s game over. Players typically call out “check” when they’re one move away from capturing their opponent’s king, and “checkmate” when victory is certain.

Chess Strategies

Chess is notable in that there are a number of popular strategies that you can employ to win the game. While new players can certainly play without a strategy, you’ll need to think several steps ahead in order to beat a more advanced player. There have been countless books devoted to chess strategies, laying out classic defensive and offensive strategies for opening the game and capturing your opponent’s king.

Chess is also played in championships all over the world, pitting players of various ranks against each other in an effort to win titles, fame, and fortune. However, you don’t have to be a Grandmaster to enjoy the thrill of Chess. This board game can be enjoyed just as easily by two friends in the park as it can by two masters in a heated championship.

Chess Spinoffs

There are countless spinoffs of Chess that add new elements to the game in order to make it even more chaotic and fun. Code Geass: Knightmare Chess uses two decks of cards in addition to a chessboard that allow you to bend the rules of the game with special abilities. Players will play a standard game of Chess while also drawing and playing cards from the deck, giving you increased opportunities to thwart your opponent and get the upper hand.

Devil’s Chess is another spinoff card game that adds a deck of cards to your typical chessboard. It’s marketed as bringing Chess out of the 6th century and into the 21st by adding modern-day mechanics to this classic game. Players will draw playable cards throughout the game as well as Rule cards, which add special conditions that can mess up your game. It also adds new conditions for winning that can allow you to sneak a victory without taking your opponent’s king.

Take a Dive Into the Classic World of Chess

Chess is a 2-person game, pitting the minds of two players against each other in an incredibly intimate and competitive setting. It’s suitable for ages 6 and up, as younger players can easily understand the mechanics. In fact, younger players are often the ones who become the most adept at the game as they quickly learn new strategies and develop into Chess prodigies.

The playing time for Chess really depends on the expertise of the people playing the game. It can end within minutes if you make a sudden wrong move, but it’s also been known to go on for hours with more advanced players. Buy Chess today and put your mind to the ultimate test!

 

Azul: Channel Your Interior Decorator

If you’re a fan of art or interior design, then Azul is the game for you. Set in the lavish palace of King Manuel I of Portugal, Azul puts your interior decorating skills to the test to see who can build the best pattern for the palace walls. You’ll have a blast with the delicate, intricate little tile pieces as you pick and choose which ones will help you make the best design. An expert combination of aesthetic appeal and complex strategy, Azul is a masterpiece of a game.

The Beauty of Azul

Perhaps the best part of the game of Azul comes from its origin story. Azul is based on azulejos, which were white and blue ceramic tiles introduced to Spain by the Moors. When the Portuguese King Manuel I was on a visit to the Alhambra palace in Southern Spain, he couldn’t help but be captivated by the beauty of these dazzling tiles.

In fact, he was so overcome by the beauty of these azulejos that he instantly ordered for his own palace back home in Portugal to be decorated in the same way. This is where our game begins, as you the player become the tile-laying artist charged with embellishing the king’s royal walls.

Collecting the Tiles

Azul is incredibly simple to learn, setup, and play, so you’ll be able to dive right in. Players start with their own individual boards and scoring markers. A ring of discs sits in the center of the table, each holding four randomly drawn tiles and one white tile for players to choose from. Players will take turns pulling tiles from one of the discs and adding them to their boards.

When you select the tiles, you must choose all of the tiles of that color from the disc to add to your board. You’ll fill in each row of your board with one color at a time. If the row is full by the end of the round, then you can move it onto the patterned scoring wall on your board.

Building Your Pattern

This is where the game gets interesting. You get to choose how you place the tiles to decorate the palace, with certain patterns and sets scoring you extra points. This part of the game allows your inner artist to come out as you try and earn as many points as possible while still building something of beauty.

Beware of taking tiles you cannot use, however, as this will harm your score. If there are no free rows in which to place your tile or you’ve already completed a row with that color title, then you’ll earn negative points. 

The key to the game is to make sure you’re able to fill the rows on your player board while planning out your long term strategy for decorating the palace. The game ends when the first player completes an entire row in their patterned scoring wall.

Azul Spinoffs

Azul has two spinoffs that have similar gameplay but employ different yet equally beautiful components. Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra turns you into a window-builder as you craft an elegant stained glass window of your own design. This game comes with beautiful double-sided window panels that offer an infinite number of potential combinations.

Azul: Summer Pavilion tasks you with decorating the king’s summer pavilion, a task which was never actually completed in real life. This spinoff offers a bit more complexity to the game that can make it a worthy upgrade for fans of the original Azul.

Azul: Embellish To Your Heart’s Content

Azul is playable by 2-4 players, so it’s definitely best for small groups or for one-on-one games. It’s suitable for ages 8 and up, mostly because of how simple the game is to play. However, it’s definitely got enough complexity that adults won’t tire of it.

Playing time for Azul lasts 30-45 minutes, which allows you to get a hang of the game in case you’re interested in playing multiple rounds. All in all, Azul is the kind of game you’ll want to play multiple times in order to nail down your winning strategy. Buy Azul today and let your artist be free!

 

Sorry!: It’s Parchisi with a Wicked Twist

Sorry! is one of those board games we all grew up playing as little kids. But like most classic board games, its popularity has endured because of its ability to be played over and over again without losing its shine. Sorry! is a primarily luck-based game that is simple enough for the youngest of kids to understand and enjoy. However, there are several ways to make the game more complex for adults to enjoy it even more with or without the kids.

Following the Path

The goal of the game Sorry! is to move the four pieces of your color from their starting circle to the end of their path along the board. Each player starts with four pieces of a certain color on their starting space. To get one of your tokens out of your home space, you have to draw a card with either a 1 or a 2 on it. Players will go in turns drawing cards and moving their tokens.

One of the twists of Sorry! is that many of these cards allow you to do more than just mindlessly move your token forward. You can often move your piece either forwards or backwards when you pull the “backward 4” card, which gives you greater control over making use of those helpful slides.

Certain areas of the board contain slides, which allow you to skip past many spaces and jettison your token closer to the end. If your token lands on one of these slides at the end of your movement, then you can travel down the slide to the next available spot. You can only travel down slides that aren’t of the same color as your token, however. And if there’s another player sitting on one of those slides when you take your ride, you get to boot them back to the start.

Say You’re Sorry

The most diabolical part of the game Sorry! is also where it gets its namesake from. While you’re not allowed to block other players’ pieces from passing yours, you are allowed to interfere with them on certain occasions. If you end your turn on the same space as another player, you can say “Sorry!” and send their piece all the way back to the start space.

You can also do the same when you pull the special Sorry! card, which allows you to jump your piece to the spot of one of your opponents and kick them back to the start. This makes the game much more competitive while also giving players who are falling behind the opportunity to get ahead.

Sorry Spinoffs

Sorry! has released many spinoff games throughout the years to make the original game a bit more challenging. Simon Sorry! combines Sorry! with the beloved game Simon Says to create one unique board game. Players will use an electronic game unit that lights up in a specific pattern, which they will then try to repeat. If they get it correct, then the unit will tell them how many spaces they can move across the board.

Sorry! Not Sorry! is an adult party version of the original board game that allows you more opportunity to sabotage your friends. Not only can you steal their pawns, but you can also use the “Not Sorry!” cards to force them to expose their wildest secrets.

Sorry! It’s All In Good Fun

Sorry! is playable by 2-4 players, so it’s definitely better for smaller families. It’s also suitable for ages 6 and up thanks to its simple gameplay and easy setup. Playing time lasts around 30 minutes, which is short enough to hold younger players’ attention. Sorry! is the perfect game for introducing young kids to board games.

Sorry! can also be made more complex for older players by adding a bit of strategy to the game. While pulling one card at a time means you’re depending on luck to help you win, pulling five cards at a time gives you more control over fate. Adults who want to make the game a little harder can make this change to incorporate strategy into the game by deciding which card to play.

Buy Sorry! today and you won’t be sorry!

 

Kill Doctor Lucky: Where Clue Gets Turned Upside Down

The classic board game Clue throws you smack dab in the middle of your classic murder mystery: aloof guests, a glamorous mansion, and a dead man for whom everyone is a suspect in the killing. Kill Doctor Lucky takes the mysterious fun of Clue and turns it on its head.

Instead of scouring the mansion for clues to find out who the killer is, Kill Doctor Lucky has you planning the murder ahead of time! With a thrilling story, dynamic gameplay, and a wickedly tongue-in-cheek premise, Kill Doctor Lucky is a board game that will have you channeling your inner assassin.

What’s Your Motive?

In Kill Doctor Lucky, players compete to be the one to off the eponymous Doctor Lucky. Did Doctor Lucky cut you out of his will, betray you, or leave you for another? In this game, everyone has a motive, whether it’s money, hatred, or love. At the end of the day, all that matters is that you be the one to strike the blow to end the good Doctor’s life. The game begins with the power to the mansion being cut, and each player fighting to get a weapon, corner Doctor Lucky, and commit the deadly deed.

Strike To Kill

Kill Doctor Lucky comes with a playing board that shows all of the rooms of Doctor Lucky’s mansion. It also comes with standees for each of the seven characters as well as Doctor Lucky and his pet dog Shamrock. Players will play move around the mansion, collecting murder weapons and failure cards in an attempt to off Doctor Lucky and prevent others from beating them to the punch.

Each turn gives you several options. You can either take a free step or to play a move card, which will allow you to move either yourself or Doctor Lucky to another room. You can also draw a card, which can help you stack up on weapons and move cards. When you’re alone with Doctor Lucky and ready to make your move, you can announce a murder attempt.

Weapon cards will make your murder attempt more powerful, but your opponents can play failure cards to try to overpower your murder attempt with a higher value. If you fail at your murder attempt, however, you earn a spite token that can increase your murder value by one point for all your future attempts.

Getting Doctor Lucky alone is a difficult proposition, as you can only make your attempt when you’re out of the line of sight of the other players. Even Doctor Lucky’s dog can prevent you from making your kill, so you’ll have to make sure to separate the Doctor from his beloved pooch if you want to succeed.

Kill Doctor Lucky Spinoffs

Kill Doctor Lucky comes with several expansions and spinoffs that can make the game even more wacky and fun. Save Doctor Lucky is a spinoff prequel that flips the script once again, casting you as a passenger on a sinking ocean liner attempting to save Doctor Lucky instead of killing him.

Kill Doctor Lucky: The Director’s Cut adds a second playing board to the game as well as new rules that allow players to kill each other or Doctor Lucky’s dog. Kill Doctor Lucky Online can be played on the internet against either live players or computer opponents, whereas Get Lucky turns the board game into a murderous card game.

Take Your Shot With Kill Doctor Lucky

Kill Doctor Lucky is playable by 3-8 players, which makes it well-suited to parties or large family gatherings. It’s also suitable for ages 12 and up, mostly due to the murderous nature of the game more than the difficulty of the game. Playing time lasts around 45 minutes, which is a decent chunk of time for getting a round or two in at a party before the main event.

Kill Doctor Lucky definitely stands out for its dark humor and its unique combination of luck and strategy. If you’re a fan of the board game Clue but you’re looking for something a little more humorous, Kill Doctor Lucky is an excellent addition to the murder mystery genre. Tap into your inner assassin and buy Kill Doctor Lucky today!

 

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