Theme: Card playing, Connect 4 Players: 2-9 Playtime: 20-55min Suggested Player Age: 8 and up
Serious Face: 4/10 This is a fairly light game when it comes to seriousness. It involves mainly drawing cards, playing them, messing with your opponents, and laughing. Player Interaction: 8/10 There is a large amount of player interaction. Every play you make in this game is dependent on where you want to keep your opponent from playing or blocking them from playing where you think they will play. Strateejery: 3/10 The strategy in this game is limited. Every play is contingent on what cards you have to choose from, but there is strategy is statistically playing in a location where you would be more likely to draw a card next to it, and things of that sort. Feeling Lucky: 8/10 Luck plays a huge role in this game. If you draw the right cards you will win and your opponent won't be able to do anything about it. That's life. Teachability: 9/10 Super easy to learn and teach. In 5 minutes you will be able to grasp the idea and understand the gameplay. How Hard Can It Be: 2/10 Super easy to play. The gameplay is quick, the downtime is minimal, and the amount of stress on your mind is almost non-existant. Fun game, not hard. Looking Pretty: 6/10 Nothing special about the way this game looks. Good clean design with crisp printing and solid board design. Fun to look at and not hard to see where to play.
In the Grand Scheme of Things: I would recommend this game to anyone who likes lighter games in general. Anyone who is not interested in a deep strategy game, but wants a fun night with a bunch of friends trying to screw up everyone else's plans.
Memoir '44
Theme: World War II, American vs. German Players: 2-4 Playtime: 45-60min Suggested Player Age: 10 and up
Serious Face: 7/10 This game is fairly serious, not quite as much as many war games, but more than most light games. Player Interaction: 8/10 This entire game is composed of making decisions which directly effect your opponents. You make a move, shoot an opponents unit, wreak havoc, and generally try to win the war. Lots of interaction. Strateejery: 6/10 When it comes to strategic thinking and moving, there is some, but your strategic moves are limited to the cards you have to play. If you don't have the card to make your strategic move, you have to come up with another move that will be less strategic, but possible. Feeling Lucky: 7/10 There is luck involved. There are cards that you draw that allow you move certain units on the board. If you don't have the cards, you can't move the units. There is also dice-rolling. If you roll terribly, you will lose. Lots of luck. Teachability: 5/10 Pretty easy to learn, but I suppose it depends on who you are teaching it to. If you are teaching this game to a new gamer it would be difficult to learn the concepts of attacking, movement, move and fire, damage, cover, and line of sight. If you are teaching this to a person who has played war board games before, they will find this very easy to pick up indeed. How Hard Can It Be: 5/10 It's not really that hard. As far as all war board games go, it's one of the easiest out there. It takes a while to set up, but not as long as Axis and Allies. Looking Pretty: 8/10 The components are fabulous. Great little plastic pieces. Awesome designs, the boards are solid and well-made. This game will last for a long time without showing any wear and tear.
In the Grand Scheme of Things: I would recommend this game to anyone who likes lighter war board games. If you want to add randomness and luck to a strategic war game, this is your game. The experienced player will not always win, but you will both have fun playing the whole time.