Legendary Kingdoms – Part 1

Legendary Kingdoms – Part 2

More Parts to Come

What Is Legendary Kingdoms

Legendary Kingdoms is a solo, though you could do it cooperatively, RPG system. In this system you are using a choose your own adventure type of game play with skill checks. And there are multiple books in the Legendary Kingdoms. The choices you make progress the story in different ways. And while sometimes you are limited, you also hit very open world points. But that’s the basics of the system.

How To Play

Legendary Kingdoms is a game where there isn’t really a “winner” so to speak. It is an open world story driven solo or multiplayer choose your own adventure RPG, in case you skipped the section above.

Characters

To start off you start with a group of four characters in your party. I am not sure if it is possible to add more characters as you go. But it is possible to have your characters die if you are reckless in battles.

Characters use several different stats. There is fighting, stealth, lore, survival and charisma as well as hit points. These stats generally range from 1 to 5 when you start the game. It is possible during the game that they might increase. But it is not a common thing and it is driven by story. It is not an RPG system where you gain experience and level up.

Checks

The main crux of the game play is split into two parts. Story, which I’ll talk about next, and checks. When you do anything in the game you complete checks. This is even the case when you are in combat, though combat checks do behave slightly differently at times.

The basics of a check are fairly simple. They are either group checks, so a check for everyone, or an individual check. A group check you will use the stats of two of the four characters versus just one for the individual. The game often doesn’t tell you what a check might be before you make it, so you need to pick your character(s) somewhat blindly based on context.

Then you roll dice. You roll dice equal to the stat being checked against. In combat you check to see how many succeed and you get that many hits and damage dealt to an enemy which is determined by the enemy’s defense. In a skill check there is a set target number you want to match or beat like in combat. But in a skill check you want to get a certain number of success to pass.

There is a bit more for combat, but I won’t go into it here.

Story

The other large element is the story in the game. Like I said, this is a choose your own adventure style of game. By that I mean, you start with a passage, read that, make a decision and go to another passage to read from. It is interrupted by combats or skill checks, but generally it is reading one part of the story or another.

What I Don’t Like

So what is it about the game that might not work for me? I think the biggest thing I note in the game is the luck factor. Yes, the better a skill is the more dice you roll. That is a nice thing int he game, it is less swinging than maybe rolling a D20 and adding a modifier. Especially because it is the value on every individual die that matters. But it is still a luck game. In Legendary Kingdoms there is not much if any die mitigation so it is just a roll.

What I Like

Firstly, I like how simple the system is to play. When I want to get the game out, I grab some dice and start playing. Yes, you need a game sheet to use, but it is not overly complex to track that. And the checks are simple to follow as well.

Speaking of checks, I like how combat is just a bit more complex, but not too complex. If combat were as simple as it is for a skill check, it might feel way to lucky. But I like how you have armor and that armor might block attacks. And I like that as characters you get to go first and then the enemies go. There is no initiative system it is just nice and simple that way.

Another thing that stands out to me is that the writing is solid or slightly better than that. With a choose your own adventure it is very possible that it could be too generic because you don’t know how someone is getting to a situation. This one is just enough on rails that they can create a bigger story. Now it is at the point where I am in an open world point, so I want to know how the story is going to go. But I like the story a lot thus far, and I think there is some good interesting writing and plot happening.

Who Is Legendary Kingdoms For?

This is tough one to say. I think people who like a good RPG might enjoy this game. In particular maybe a video game RPG player who is looking for a way to spend less screen time. It is going to give you that RPG itch but not be too much. And it is something for an RPG fan who maybe wants to play more but can’t work it into their schedule. This is a game that is easily playable in an evening for thirty minutes and then putting it down and picking it up again.

Thoughts and Grades on Legendary Kingdoms

This game is a blast to play. Is it perfect, no, I wish there was maybe a way to add a bonus to a roll from time to time, just for those really important ones. And maybe it is the case where there might be a spell that’ll do that eventually. So there is a bunch of luck when it comes to rolling. And combat, like most RPG’s, is always a bit more time than the story. But those both are minor negatives to me.

The positives far outweigh both of those parts to me. I think that the game play is fast and fun. And I love the story elements to it. The decision of do you go further into the water or out, it is interesting. Do you spend more time pushing for treasures but potentially risking something? That is what you want from a good choose your own adventure style of game. And unlike the choose your own adventure books you might have read growing up, this one is logical. You can guess what might come next.

My Grade: A
Gamer Grade: C
Casual Grade: A
Strategy (out of 10): 5
Luck (out of 10): 7

Oh, and if you made it down here, leave a comment as to what direction I should go in the story.

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It was pretty obvious before Gen Con that one of the biggest games there was going to be Ace of Spades from Devir Games. This is a solo or two player boss battling poker card game. Why was it obvious, a fun horror western theme. You beat monsters with poker hands, Balatro style. And Devir is a popular company. Turns out that you could pre-order it as well, which I did and it came during Gen Con for me. Which means, it was maybe easier to get online than at Gen Con. But is Ace of Spades worth the hype?

How To Play Ace of Spades

Like I said this game is a boss battling game. Each round you face off against a different boss and it doesn’t give you breaks. To beat a boss you need to play out poker hands. Each hand must have five cards played, when solo, from a hand of eight cards. Each hand is going to do an amount of damage, and face cards and aces increase the damage.

When you defeat a boss, you get a special power from them. Some powers are one time, but every third boss is going to give you ongoing power. An example of a power would be that all your hearts count as diamonds for a hand. Or for an ongoing ability that every time you play a straight it deals more damage, or when you play a queen it does more damage.

Eventually you reach the main boss and if you defeat him you win. Or I should say, that’s what could happen. If you lose at any point in time to a boss, aka you can’t beat them in a certain number of hands, you lose the game and need to restart.

Hands and Discards

One element of this game to keep track of is how hands and discards work. Each boss you need to defeat in a certain number of hands. Also you gain a specific number of discards per boss. So if you have a bad hand, you can discard cards from it and redraw up.

But discard also does something else. In this game you don’t reshuffle until you’ve beat a villain, that every third bad guy. Or you can use a discard to shuffle your played and discard cards back into the deck. This element is important when facing off against bosses with more health because you run through the deck faster. But it uses up an ability to set-up your deck.

What Doesn’t Work

There are two things that I think people might not like about this. Firstly is the you lose to a boss you lose the game. I could see house ruling it, if you don’t want to reshuffle, that you lose a life and can continue and you get one life. But, that said, it is very easy to say, well, I lost and just reset the boss deck and reshuffle the playing cards. That is a minimal difference in time.

The other is the luck in the game. Now, there are things that you do to help with the luck. But if you don’t like a bit of luck, you may find that it doesn’t work for you. It is luck in what you draw. And that is compounded, though becomes strategic in another way, by the fact you must play five card hands. So even if you play three of a kind you might be breaking up a future hand.

What Works

This is a really easy to learn game. I sat down and was up and running within a few minutes. It is all about playing poker hands and even if you don’t know poker they give you that poker hand information right on the game board.

It is also a quick game. I plan on streaming it soon, but I’d expect to get through a few runs to see if I can win. And that should probably be a hour or less to get through with three runs. Mainly because each run is pretty fast even if you get a ways.

Next, I like the powers you can get in the game. All of theme feel great to use. But none of them seem like they are game breaking. In fact, while the game gives you four cards for each level, they are all pretty similar. It is a deck of cards, so often times it is just for a suit that it makes it better. But there is this great tension of only using the power when you need it as things get harder and harder to take on.

The components in the game are nice as well. The deck of cards is great. And the dashboard you use is really nice. Like I said it has poker hands on there and how much damage they do, and reminders for how much damage face cards and aces do. Plus it is set-up so you can keep track of the enemies health on there as well as how many hands you have left and how many discards/reshuffles you have left.

Who is Ace of Spades For?

Now, I will caveat this by saying, I think it’ll work well with two. I have only played Ace of Spades solo. But it is a strong solo game, so I think this is a good game for someone who enjoys Balatro and board games. It is not as complex as Balatro but it makes it easier to play. Much like Slay the Spire is easier to play and scaled down numbers as a board game. So for the solo gamer in your life, this is probably a good game.

Final Thoughts and Grade on Ace of Spades

There is a lot that I like about the game. It is easy to get to the table, it is easy to learn and it is easy to play. Now I saw it is easy to play, I mean it isn’t fiddly. This is a tough game. And they give you ways to make it tougher and easier. I expect when I stream it that I’ll demonstrate it on normal and easy. In easy you don’t need to play a hand of five cards, it can be less.

Overall, I think this is a very good game and a very good solo game. It’s what I want from a solo game. The challenge is interesting, the tension is there and it isn’t a table hog. My one complaint might be that I wish there was more variety in the characters you go up against. Each level is pretty similar. I didn’t mention it but villains have something that they are strong against. Like spades, or queens, for example. That is a fun twist.

I wish that they had created more variety in that. For example, maybe a boss that is strong against spades but then is weak against queens or something interesting like that, so it might feel like more of a puzzle as you play it out. And not so much more of a puzzle, but more variety in what you face off against. And the same could be said for the abilities. Still that is a minor complaint and is ripe for expansion packs.

Have you tried Ace of Spades?

My Grade: A-
Gamer Grade: B+
Casual Grade: B-
Strategy (out of 10): 6
Luck (out of 10): 7

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Catch-Up on Videos

What’s the Plot of Fantastic Four First Steps (Theory)

Fantastic Four Post Credit Scenes (Theories)

Fantastic Four First Steps Initial Reaction

Fantastic Four: First Steps Post Credit Scenes – What Do They Mean?

Thanks for Listening

I hope that you are enjoying the podcast. If you are, there are a few ways that I always talk about that you can support 10 Minute Marvel. Firstly, please consider sharing it with your friends as word of mouth really is a great way to help more people find the podcast, and personal recommendations are always great. As well as then subscribing or leaving a rating and review. Both of those make the podcast easier to find for people looking for a fun Marvel podcast. You can find the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, and Spotify or wherever you get your friendly neighborhood podcasts.

We also run a Patreon and that is another way you can help support. The Patreon, found here, goes to help improve the quality of the 10 Minute Marvel Podcast, pay for advertising and more. It also helps improve the Malts and Meeples YouTube Channel and Nerdologists.com website. Thank you, again, for listening and for considering supporting us financially.

Comments or Questions: Did you see Fantastic Four First Steps this weekend?

What did you think of the film? And if you didn’t, why are you waiting on it? I don’t mean that last question accusingly, I’m legitimately curious if you’re listening to a Marvel podcast, what is the reason that you haven’t gone to see this one yet?

You can let us know all of those things down in the comment section below, or tweet them to me @TheScando or by using #10MinMarvel. And there is now the Facebook page, as well, where you can join in the conversation here. And follow us on YouTube for more content here.

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Catch Up On Videos

Marvel Post Secret Wars

Final Fantastic Four Trailer Thoughts

Ironheart Initial Impressions

Parker Robbin’s Story

Thanks for Listening

I hope that you are enjoying the podcast. If you are, there are a few ways that I always talk about that you can support 10 Minute Marvel. Firstly, please consider sharing it with your friends as word of mouth really is a great way to help more people find the podcast, and personal recommendations are always great. As well as then subscribing or leaving a rating and review. Both of those make the podcast easier to find for people looking for a fun Marvel podcast. You can find the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, and Spotify or wherever you get your friendly neighborhood podcasts.

We also run a Patreon and that is another way you can help support. The Patreon, found here, goes to help improve the quality of the 10 Minute Marvel Podcast, pay for advertising and more. It also helps improve the Malts and Meeples YouTube Channel and Nerdologists.com website. Thank you, again, for listening and for considering supporting us financially.

Comments or Questions: Thoughts on Ironheart Episodes 1 through 3?

After three episodes what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comment section over on YouTube.

You can let us know all of those things down in the comment section below, or tweet them to me @TheScando or by using #10MinMarvel. And there is now the Facebook page, as well, where you can join in the conversation here. And follow us on YouTube for more content here.

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How To Play Guild of Merchant Explorers

Guild of Merchant of Explorers plays kind of like a roll and write game, or flip and write game. So start by using that as a basis for how it is played. On a turn a card is flipped over and that tells you what type of terrain you can explore. And you want to explore terrain that has coins or is going to give you coins, because coins are your points at the end of the game.

Each card you flip has a certain way that or type of terrain that you need to place on. It might be wild but you need to place them so those two spots you are filling in are connected. Or it might be two grass lands which you can place anywhere, as long as they are connected to something previous, we’ll talk about that in a second. And then there are ones for each age that give you a special placement power that other players don’t have.

How To Place

So when you are placing you need to place off of a few different things, or a few different rules. When you start the game you need to start from your central city. And as you play, you can connect to paths leading back to that central city, or to villages that you’ve placed. I’ll talk about villages in a second. As you move from age one to two, and all the way up through four, you wipe what you have on the board each time, minus a few things.

So it might seems that you are always limited as you play out. But like I said you can play from villages as well. Villages do you give points, so one of the things you want to build to do well in the game. But they also give you new spots to build from. If I place a village on another island, I can now build off of that village. The rest of the rules apply still to what you are doing for placement, but you start in different spots.

And each era gives you a special card to use as well. Those special cards stick around, one for each era. And the one you pick and use in era one is going to be used in ages two through four as well. That is going to make how you expand compared to other players unique. And it is going to help determine your scoring strategy as you play the game.

How to Score

Then it’s all about how you score in this game. And the scoring is simple but there are a good number of ways to score. The first is simple, every time you cover up a coin, you gain that many coins. So if you cover up two coins on a turn, you get two coins which are two points at the end of the game.

You also gain coins for building villages. Earlier you build the village in a game the fewer points you will get. Why, because some spots are easier to build than others, so you likely will be building those to start the game.

You also explore spots with treasures. These give you a treasure card that you draw. Some of them give you points for the number of villages you have, or trade routes you create. Or it might be an urn that gives you more treasure for the number of urn cards you pull from the deck.

You establish trade routes as well. A trade route is going to connect two towns printed on the board. Not villages. You score points based on the numbers of your two connecting towns. And then you cover up one of the tows, so you can’t just connect the same high scoring towns again.

Finally each game you deal out shared objectives. The first player to complete it is going to get more points than the subsequent completion of those goals. And the most points at the end of the game wins.

What Doesn’t Work

There is an element of fiddliness that I expect to find when I play in person. On BGA it is great because it cleans up everything between rounds for you. When you play in person you need to remove all the cubes, but keep the villages in the right place. And that is going to be a bit more prone to a table bump or something like that. The game would be hard to make with a recessed board, and there are multiple boards, so I get it. But it is going to be a small concern.

What Works

Firstly, the card flip system and what you do with placing cubes is great. I really like how smoothly that works in the game. It is easy to track and use in the game. And it is nice because that means that everyone is playing the game at the same time. There is no roll or anything for a specific persons turn. I know a lot of roll and write style games do that now, as do more others, but it’s always nice.

I also like the cards you gather for each era. At the end of the game, I have three unique things that I can do. So, to make that clearer, in the final era, you activate all three, plus you choose one to activate again. So you decide, somewhat, how you build out your strategy. You get two cards each era that are special and choose to keep one, so while it might lead you in a direction, it is your choice.

And I like the scoring a lot in this game. I know it reads like a lot when it comes to what I wrote down for it. And that isn’t all the possible scoring in the game but nearly. So it is a bunch, but mainly, everything gives you coins. And on your first age, you probably get a village out and cover some coins. That is going to be about it. So it leads you into the scoring as you go and you can focus in on an area of scoring that you really want to make work for you.

Who Is Guild of Merchant Explorers For?

I think this is a great game for people who like roll and write games but want to bridge that gap between others. You play something that feels a bunch like a roll and write game, but it is still played on a board. The one thing I’ll say is that people looking for a very interactive game aren’t going to find it here. Which is okay but know that going into it. I was told by someone I play with on BGA that the game reminded him of Cartographers. And I think there is definitely an element that feels a bit like that. It is different, but if you like Cartographers you probably will enjoy this one.

Final Thoughts on Guild of Merchant Explorers

Now, I do like Cartographers a lot. So do I like Guild of Merchant explorers then? The answer is yes. This is a fun game that is easy to sit down and play on BGA and I think it’ll be easy to play in person. In fact, I plan on playing it in person sometime soon solo and competitively against other players.

I think what makes it so great for me is how the game expands out as you go. Yes, you wipe your progress between each era. And I though, or was worried, that it might make the game feel smaller and tighter. Mainly, can I make it to the edge of the board to get to that town there, or to cover up that area and put in a village. It turns out that the answer to those questions is yes, because if you start to place villages early, you really expand. And you add more cards each era as well.

There are some games that I play on BGA that I almost always have a game going. Forest Shuffle, Zenith, Rallyman Dirt and Pirates of Maracaibo, which I’ll talk about next week, are a few. I expect that Guild of Merchant Explorers is going to end up the same way. It’s an easy game to pick-up playing asynchronously and I enjoy that about it a lot. So a good easy game to play and enjoy, in my opinion. And a game that is going to give good variety and replayability and the possibility for expansions.

My Grade: A-
Strategy: B
Luck: C

Have you played Guild of Merchant Explorers? What do you think of it?

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How To Play Unsurmountable

Like all games from Button Shy, Unsurmountable is an 18 card game. Though, there are expansions. In this game you are trying to use all 17 mountain cards and the helicopter to complete an assent of the mountain. You need to make it from one of the bottom edges of the mountain to the top as you build it out in a four wide triangle.

Each turn you do one of two things. You either take the left most card from the “base camp” row of cards and add it to your mountain. You want to connect the paths so that you can make it to the top as you are placing out cards.

The other option is that you can spend one of the other cards, four at the start of a base game, to use it’s special ability. These abilities allow you to manipulate the order of the cards in the base camp, remove cards or add cards in other ways to the mountain and more.

Once you complete one of those two actions you refill your base camp, shifting all the cards to the left and continue. At the end of the game, when your mountain is built, you check to see if you can create a path to the top. If you can, you win.

What Doesn’t Work

This is a solo game with a fair amount of luck to it. If you get the right cards to come out in the right order, you just build the mountain. The powers, they don’t matter so much. But, if you don’t get the right cards, it’s more of a puzzle. So there is a variability in the game as to how you win. Sometimes you win it is pure luck, other times, no matter what you do, or nearly that, there is nothing you could do to win.

What Works

That negative said, this game does give you a good puzzle. The powers on the cards are interesting. Though, as I talk about at the end of the video, maybe not balanced. For example, adding an extra card to the row just gives you more options. But, removing one makes it harder, and the likelihood you want to play either card on the mountain is fairly low. But the rest of the cards offer a lot of fun choices and decisions about which to use.

The game is also again a pretty small footprint and fast to play. I play four games in my video and that is not a long video. In fact, I even spend time talking at the end about some thoughts on the game, so it’s less than that run time for four games. Granted, one game I didn’t play out completely. I knew based off of the cards that I had, I wasn’t going to be able to complete it. But that’s not a bad thing, it means that the game plays fast, and you know when it’s over, no questioning if you can complete it.

Who Is Unsurmountable For?

I think people who like a solo puzzle will find this one fun. As compared to some Button Shy Games, I think that this one might benefit more from expansions. The base game, as you play it, you know what cards do fast. That isn’t a bad thing, but it does limit a potential shelf life of a game. But for someone who wants a lot of small solo games, maybe travels often or finds themselves waiting often, a game like this is very good.

My Final Thoughts on Unsurmountable

This is an interesting game, and I mean that in a good way. I like the game, but also I think that I need the expansions to keep it around. So I am buying the expansions for it. The nice thing about a lot of Button Shy Games is that you get them for $15 and can sell them for $10, so if I don’t find that’s enough for the game, that’s okay. But I think what the game does is interesting.

The reason that it’s kind of riding that edge for me is because I own a lot of little solo games. So which is going to be the one that I play? And Unsurmountable is on the higher end of luck. I won a game without having to use a power for a long time. Why, because that is the order the cards were shuffled into. Am I likely to get that order again, no. But it is possible to just shuffle into a win, which I’m not going to say is bad design.

But it is a testament to the level of luck in the game. And I want to do more than just play out cards in the order I drew them. And most of the time I know with Unsurmountable that I will. If the expansions add some more into the mix, though, that’d be great.

My Grade: C+
Strategy: B
Luck: B

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How To Play Snowfall over Mountains

Snowfall over Mountains is a path building or connection building solo game where you place out tiles around your cabin to create scoring opportunities. You score five different elements during the game. You score rabbit trails, bear tracks, bushes, trees, and ponds. Each of them have different ways that they can score. You also lose points if you build out trails that don’t connect back to your cabin.

On your turn you look at the two tiles that you have and you place one of them. It needs to connect to the tiles that are already placed. But it only needs to overlap in one spot, not the whole tile. So no diagonal connections allowed. You do that until all of the tiles are placed. Then you look at see how many points you scored based off of the cards that were out for scoring. As the scoring cards are one for each group, but are randomly selected for each game.

You also play with tools. Tools allow you to break the rules, basically. Generally it is going to be things like you can move a tile after you play it. Or it might be something like draw three tiles and play all of them before you go back to your hand of tiles. It isn’t going to be anything major, but it will allow you to potentially get yourself out of a spot if you are having trouble finding the best play for scoring.

What Doesn’t Work?

I find no major complaints with this. I think there are two elements though that might trip up people at times. Firstly, this is a familiar feeling game. Games like Sprawlopolis and Orchard give me similar feels to it. By that I mean, it gives you the ability to play out cards or tiles to complete different scoring objectives. This one doesn’t allow you to overlap, but there is certainly an element that puts it into a similar family.

The other being that it’s tricky to keep track of all the scoring and pay attention to it all at once. Generally I let one of them go to the wayside. I don’t know that it is the best move to do that. I think that I probably messed up with that and getting a higher score because I didn’t score all of them well and didn’t use my tools well. But as you learn the game, it is going to be part of what you need to think about.

What Works Well?

I like the variety in scoring a lot. I sit down and I randomly select five different scoring objectives. Yes, they can be tricky to remember all at once, but generally none of the scoring is that complex. So I think it is more of a matter of holding it all in your head and getting practice with that. I also think it is going to provide good replayability for the game because without the mini expansion there are three per scoring objective which gives you a considerable number of combinations.

The game is also very fast. I play the game twice in forty minutes on the video. And even that isn’t a true forty minutes. The first time it takes a little bit longer as I need to remember the scoring. And there is the introduction, outro, and a brief pause as I need to check on my kid. So the game is very fast, under twenty minutes per time which is faster than it says on the box. I think it may take longer depending on how much you analyze each placement. So there is that, but the game overall is quick.

The game also doesn’t take up that much room. Now compared to Sprawlopolis and Orchard, probably about the same amount as Sprawlopolis and more than Orchard, so it isn’t the smallest footprint. But it is not large though like something like A Gentle Rain which can grow quite big. So I like how it contains itself for a solo game. It means that it is the type of game I could carry in a backpack and reasonably play at a bar or on my work desk.

Final Thoughts on Snowfall over Mountains

Snowfall over Mountains is a fun solo game. It’s light, easy to play, but offers great variety in what it does. When I put it in the same category of Orchard, a game that I like a lot, and Sprawlopolis, a game that I find good, that is very good company. A number of solo games do this, so it feels like it’s in a genre with limited space. But what it does and the variety it offers, it does it well.

And Pencil First Games always makes games with good production value. And Snowfall over Mountains is no exception to that. The artwork and the tiles are great. You don’t even need to punch out the tiles, which I appreciate. That could have made this box a lot bigger. Instead, they keep it in a small box that fits the tiles and cards easily. And it even fits the expansion in well without any additional box lift.

Finally, I want to emphasize that the game is really streamlined and easy to get to the table. Get your five scoring cards, draw your three and keep two tool cards. And then you basically start playing. The time from opening up the box to playing the game is under three minutes. I like that a lot for a small box solo only game. It means it is way easier to play than some other solo gaming experiences.

My Grade: B+
Casual Grade: A
Gamer Grade: B

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What Is Unico About

I can tell you the whole plot of Unico if you want. But I won’t. Unico is a story originally created by Osamu Tezuka and published from 1976 to 1979. Tezuka’s name might be familiar as he also created and wrote Astro Boy. So he is one of the founders and creators of manga as we know it. Unico is a lesser known story. But Samuel Sattin (adaptor) and Gurihiru have adapted it into a new form.

The story follows that of a unicorn who with the goddess Psyche bring joy and beauty to the mortal world. But that makes the goddess Venus mad. She is beauty, not Unico and people should be adoring her, not Unico. So she captures the little unicorn and sends him across time with the West Wind so that he forgets who he was. He is to be left in that forgetful state, but the West Wind can’t do that. But her betrayal of Venus is going to cost her and put Unico back in danger.

Is It A Good Story?

So the first graphic novel or trade paperback just came out of this. I don’t think it is going purely to comics, but that means that only part of the story is ready to be read. But Unico: Awakening, the first graphic novel, is wonderful. You get a taste in the comic for free comic book day, but the rest of the story really shines as you dig into.

There is a surprising amount of depth to the story as you look into Unico, Chloe the cat, and what other characters, like the West Wind need to go through. It’s a kids story, but not a kids story for the faint of heart. And I think the story is better off because of it. But that is also a downside of it.

The comic book came with the kids bag of stories. And my five-year-old kid loves Unico. But now that we own and I read the story, is it the right thing for a kid that age. The start has some big things to it, just in the comic. But nothing too overtly scary. Unico: Awakening, that is going to contain more that might be scary for a kid.

Then Who Is It For?

Unico is for a slightly older kid and parents who like manga and comics. It is not a teenage story by any means. I think it is for middle grade kids though, not young kids. Venus is not nice, and Unico is adorable. I expect a lot of kids are not going to like that element of the story. And there is a monster that is not pleasant to look at. It’s the type of thing that might stick in a kids head and cause some nightmares.

Now, I also want to say that your mileage will vary. I still am trying to figure out what my kid is going to be able to handle or not. It might be fine it might not and the question always is, is it worth it. I think as he gets a little bit older, maybe not even to 9, the story won’t be too much for him. But at five now, it might be. So it’s probably more a screen it yourself to know for your kid.

Final Thoughts on Unico

I want to talk about it more. But I think, because it’s a classic manga adapted it’s worth just saying, go check it out. Most people should find it enjoyable. And while the focus is on a younger audience, adults will find it enjoyable as well. Samuel Sattin’s adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s work is very enjoyable. And the artwork by Gurihiru is great, as well.

When I read the story, I find it a lot of fun. And like a good comic or manga, I want to know what is coming in the next one. If I feel like I can just set it down and get back to it eventually, it is a miss. But when I read Unico, I want to read more of it. Now I need to wait until the next one comes out, which is a downside of reading a comic when it comes out. But I find Unico to be worth the read.

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How To Play Mind Up!

Mind Up! is a game of few actions, you don’t make that many decisions in the game. And it is a game where you are trying to collect colors of cards to score the most points possible. How this is done has a nice little twist or process on it.

Each player has a hand of cards, starts with 7 will be 9 by the end of the game. Players pick one of those cards to use to get another card. As there are “x” number of cards in the middle of the table where “x” is the number of players. Those cards are sorted low to high, and depending on what number you played, you get where you fall into order of the played cards low to high. Then you keep the played cards in the middle and now those are the cards you are trying to get when you play out your next card.

Simple thus far. Like I said, it’s a color set collection game and you want to collect the most of the highest scoring color. Which color is that? Well, five colors are in play and the color that you play on your five scoring spot is your highest scoring. But you need to add colors left to right. So if the five is in the second spot, that is where you want to put cards. And colors always match where you already played that color.

The Big Twist

Mind Up! does have one big twist that I didn’t mention in the how to play. You play Mind Up! over three rounds. At the end of each round, after you score, you collect your cards and draw one new one. Those cards you just scored, those are your new hand of cards. It is possible that you’ll want to take a less than ideal card because it is good for you in the next round.

It’s a little twist on the game, maybe more than a big twist. And remembering what numbers are out there, it’s somewhat useful. But the big thing is that you know what colors are out there after the first round. If there is a higher number of purples than oranges, you know you don’t want to have your oranges on your five scoring spot.

Scoring

And I want to talk about how scoring works for Mind Up! as well. I said, it is set collection of the colors and that is true. But once you get a card, it is worth noting, the number on the card doesn’t matter. That only matters for where it is in the line-up of cards to pick.

Scoring is instead multiplying the number of that color of cards that you got with the scoring position it is in. If you snag three blue cards on the three scoring spot, those are worth 9 points. If you get two oranges on the five, that is worth 10 points. Easy enough math to keep the game nice and simple as you play.

There is a minor twist on scoring. And that is that you also have +1 or +2 on some cards or -1 on some cards. This does not impact the multiplication. So with my two oranges on the five, they are still worth five. But then added and subtracted numbers get factored in.

And finally with scoring, the order of the scoring cards changes every time. You play with 1 through 5 as your multiplier. But between every round one person randomizes their cards and everyone else matches that order. So the five might be in the first spot or it might be in the last spot. So strategy on where you get a color changes every round.

Who Is This For?

I think that Mind Up! is kind of that mass market card game. And I mean that in a good way. There is an action in the game that you take. You don’t need to think about a lot of things, it’s simply play out a card to hope to get the card that you want. And then you add that card you get to your collection. But compared to something like Uno there is no take that or thing that can artificially lengthen the game. It is always fast.

So for that, I think people should look at Mind Up! as a filler game. And it does play like a filler. Everyone plays out their card at the same time. Everyone gets a card at the same time. And scoring, you guessed it, everyone scores at the same time. The game is made to play quickly no matter the player count. And I think that it does a good job of that.

Final Thoughts on Mind Up!

I enjoy games like Mind Up! And as it is small game, it is going to stick in my collection. I think that Mind Up! is a fun game though. Even with it being a small box, that is not the element that is keeping the game around. It is that I sit down and can play a game of trying to guess what your opponents are going to do that is always going to be fast.

It is going to be a bit random as to what cards you are able to get. At least through the first hand, after that you have more control and more knowledge. But again, it is a fast filler game, it can have a bit more of that as you figure out your strategy and how you want to play it.

And I like the element of figuring out how or if you want to go for getting cards on the five spot. If the five is in the fifth spot, you need to spend four turns hopefully getting cards out to there. If the four is a whole lot sooner can you load that up more than someone who is pushing out to the five. It’s an interesting puzzle to figure out each time.

My Grade: B+
Gamer Grade: C
Casual Grade: B+

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Moonlight Castle

We’ll start with Moonlight Castle, this is a gem collection game that is not the simplest on the list. You are trying to collect the most gems coming out of the Moonlight Castle. But to do that, you need to have the right amount of matching pebbles to be able to grab the gems. So if I want to get a 3 gem tile of green, I need three green pebbles.

To go on top of that, you need to collect the pebbles and figure out what locations to go to on the board in order to get the gems you want. The locations you can go give you between 0 and 3 new pebbles. So there is strategy as to where you go there. And then when you go to a spot, it is going to cost you pebbles. So you need to plan to have enough pebbles to get to a spot and to get the gems.

This game has nice toy factor to it. The tiles with the gems slide out from under the castle in a cool way. And the game itself flows nicely once you get started. I like how you need to plan ahead. You can’t just go to a spot and hope you have enough pebbles. That is something that a kid will need to learn as they play, but a good thing to learn.

Grade For Kids: B-

Monza

Monza is a theme that my kid loves, it’s about car racing. He is a fan of cars and of racing to do stuff. In Monza it is a race to see who can make it to the end.

This is a die rolling game. You grab all of the dice and roll them, they are going to land on different colored sides. And that will determine where you can move on the board as the spots to move up have different colors. So you need to plan and allocate your dice so that you move as far as you can.

Monza is a simpler game than Moonlight Castle, but in a good way. It still requires some strategic planning as you figure out where you move. As we’ve played, it is no longer a game for my kid of moving to his favorite colors if he can. But how can he use the dice to move as far as he can along the track. It makes you plan strategically in how you allocate the dice and plan out your turn.

Grade for Kids: B+

Dragon’s Breath: The Hatchling

The final one is Dragon’s Breath: The Hatchling. This is a gem collection game and really contract fulfillment in a lot of ways. But the mechanisms are different and fun which I enjoy about the game.

Each player takes a turn as the “fire breather”. You remove a ring from a stack of cool looking plastic gems. The gems fall off and then everyone collects them. The non-fire breather players add gems to cards in front of them to get points by collecting sets. The fire breather tries and stop them. As you complete your sets you get new cards. And once all the gems are collected a new ring is lifted off causing more gems to fall. At the end of the game it is the player who has the most points on completed cards who wins the game.

I like this game a lot because the kid was taught it and is no able to teach it. The rules are simple but it again gives them some simple strategy. How do I pick gems that are most likely to help me complete cards. Or as the fire breather, how do I block others from completing cards. It is a strategy that my kid already sees in the game which is fun.

Grade For Kids: B+

Final Thoughts on Moonlight Castle, Monza, and Dragon’s Breath: The Hatchling

These are kids games, I’m not going to pretend that they aren’t. That means that for an adult, it is not always going to be fun to play them over and over and over. However, as I said in the beginning, compared to something like Candy Land there is a lot of fun in these games. And the fact that my kid can teach two of them, Monza and Dragon’s Breath: The Hatchling, it is very cool to see.

I obviously love board games. And I like to see him take an interest in board games. It is a hobby that we can share and there are many more that we already to spend time with. But to see him have an interest in it is fun, and dangerous. Dangerous only because now I am interested in getting more games. But also with the handful of games that he has, it’s now a chance for him to really learn those games which I want to encourage as well. And also encourage to not overwhelm him with new games.

Which of these three games looks the best to you?

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