Very good game, rating marred only by some extreme luck possibilities. (Getting the cards "Swing State" in the final round can be devastating, for example - there goes NY ...) Still, it's much better than Twilight Struggle, and an enjoyable game, recommended. Edit: I just dropped my rating a notch after further play. There really *is* too much luck in the cards. Still fun, though.

Vraiment!

Strong game, but some luck in the Buildings can sway the game pretty dramatically.

Alas, I found it to be very boring after playing and loving The Napoleonic Wars, so I have to rate it that I never want to play it again.

Too dry and unforgiving - I prefer Railroad Tycoon.

Rosenberg takes a giant leap in game design, congratulations! Excellent building game with just the right amount of interaction. The building is satisfying, the choices are good, you'll never be able to do all you want but it's okay. A few of the cards seem a little unbalanced, but that's very minor. It feels in spirit closer to Roads & Boats than to anything else I know, but the mechanics are nothing like Roads & Boats. Very engrossing game.

Meh. It's okay, an average game, hence the rating. Nothing I'll ask for, but would occasionally play three-player if someone else really wanted to play it.

Lots of fun - almost as good as Pursue the Pennant in depth, while playing much faster.

See my review.

Very boring.

While the replay value is a bit low, it's one of the best games to introduce non-gamers to the hobby.

Want Chaosium version only.

An example of a theme/mechanic disconnect. Either theme or game mechanic alone would earn this game a higher rating from me. But the theme suggests light-hearted fun, and the mechanics involve serious complicated planning and memory, so the game just doesn't work for me. For a better version of a light-hearted game that has similar mechanisms, try Sumo Arena (with my house rule).

See my review

I've played a prototype - definitely fun, needs a little polishing, though.

Good, light fun. Nothing deep, and we only pull it out once a year or so, but it's fun when we do.

Overall a good game.

Pros: very nice concept, inexpensive yet attractive. Basic rules are sound, and the ability to track losses (and the effects of damage on a unit) is excellent. I really like the dry-erase marker on the cards - great idea! I love the standing orders rule - great stuff, well executed. Extra rules, variants, FAQ, etc., available on the publisher's website for free. One starter set allows you to play a game to see if you like it - nicely done. No randomization of cards - not a CCG, thank you! Can be used with Hordes of the Things rules if you want (a simpler set of rules).

Cons: There's a bit too much "fiddliness" involved for every battle. "Let's see, I roll five dice and my offensive skill is 5 and your defensive skill is 2, so I hit on a roll of three or lower. Now I reroll those that hit and my damage-dealing ability is 4, minus your damage-resistance ability of 2..." It's not as bad as I make it sound, but you have to do it every battle - slows the game down.

Still a very good game, mind you, and the con is what brings it down to a 7.

Best combination of playability, fun, and tactical decisions of all the WWI air games. See my review here on BGG.

Rating based on original edition - I haven't seen a later edition since I saw no reason to seek it out.

Played once. I thought the game play was simply painful, though I enjoyed the company of the people I was playing with. We had six players and it seemed to take forever. Perhaps it's better with fewer players.

How could you not love this game? It has everything: bunnies, bowling, cabbages (or are they lettuces?). A sure hit whenever the young at heart gather.

Just not much game here, sorry.

Too fiddly, but I'm fussy about fantasy wargames and haven't yet found one I like. (Added later: Oooh - yes I have now! War of the Ring!)

Great filler!

The best of the Carcassonne games.

Rating is for playing with children. Drop it a bit for a pure adult game.

I've seen people shuffle their cards and play them randomly - and win more than once this way ...

Best theme on BGG.

Rating is for playing with children - drop it a couple for playing with only adults.

Too long for what it is. The choice mechanism is good, but is better in other games such as Age of Empires III or, especially, Agricola.

I'll use the "Backgammon on Steroids" cliche. The game is harder to grasp than Backgammon (it takes a few games), but once you do, it's richer. However, it's one of those games that's hard to introduce a non-gamer to, as it will be very frustrating for him/her. Get them proficient at Backgammon first, then introduce Chebache.

There's a little more here than first appearance would suggest.

Annoying but very good game. Yes, I know, that doesn't make complete sense. Deal with it.

Good fun - a bit chaotic, but I like 'em like that: high entertainment value. I just wish the build-your-own was a bit more flexible, and there still hasn't been a game to match Up Front for simulating "bound and overwatch" - but otherwise, this is an excellent game.

Half as good as CC:Europe and Med, so I'll give it half the rating.

Pretty high a rating from me for an abstract.

Plays very differently with 2, 3, or 4 players, but I suspect it's best with an even number. More playing will confirm this. Attacking islands is risky, but it's easy to cut off a transport chain ... for a turn. Then vengeance is swift! If you suspect someone has a better position, attack sooner rather than later, so their Build Points don't give them an even greater edge.

This game is more abstract and cerebral than it looks. The components are beautiful, but lead one to expect something lighter than what you get. Likewise, they look rich with theme, but in reality there is very little theme present.

Although that previous paragraph sounds negative, it's not really. It's just making sure the game finds the right target audience, because it's a very good game - IF you like fairly abstract, cerebral games.

Tom Vasel's review lists the course of play fairly well, so I won't go into that. I'll simply say that it's a good game in that just as you are about to make your move, you realize you are setting up your opponent for a great move. So you rethink it, find another move, and then discover the same thing. So it can take a while to find a move that doesn't give your opponent more than it gives you. This can lead to analysis paralysis in those players prone to such a thing, but for groups with normal speed players, it makes for a satisfying game: the deeper you look, the more you find.

The components vary from the very nice tiles and followers to the too-thin but lovely cards to the somewhat cheesy but serviceable coins. Overall very nice, though.

The game play feels most like Knizia's Samurai to me, but with a strong economic element missing in that game. I like the economic aspect: spend money (VP) to become stronger is always a lovely tradeoff.

A very good game I recommend with the target audience I stated above in mind.

Very good for a dexterity game, but these are not my cup of tea.

Rating would be higher if the damage system were more interesting. One of the best frictionless movement games out there, though.

The stuff of legend. A thoroughly satisfying skirmish miniatures game that ends in so much carnage you can't help but enjoy yourself. If that's what you're in the mood for, that is ... Oh, it has its faults. Way too random to be taken seriously, for example. But so much fun you can overlook them.

The best in the series - I love those narrow sections!

Solid light, quick game. I think I'll tweak it, but it's really fine the way it is.

Actually, the rating just dropped because of the formula, "With six coins, always buy gold. With eight coins, always buy a province." These become automatic actions, reducing choices, reducing pleasure.

Many times I'm in the mood for this kind of game: no long-term strategy, just deal with the situation every turn and bowb your buddies. Should be a big hit for you if that sounds like fun, but probably not for those who prefer being able to plot out a consistent strategy in advance.

Excellent game, especially with 6 players, but also very good with 4 or 5! Great with kids and not-yet-gamers.

Still one of the best wargames ever made. See my review here on BGG.

See my comments/review under EastFront.

Probably best with three players, but okay with two or four. Tile laying, building up more than spreading out. While more a family game than a "gamers' game", there are some good choices every turn.

Probably my favorite Settlers variant. Nasty enough to be fun, but not enough to make enemies. The luck, while present, is reduced from Settlers. There are different routes you can take to victory. Our last three-player game ended 10-9-9 - sign of a good game!

Position is everything, same as in real fencing. Although it appears to be very abstract, it's actually one of Knizia's best matches between mechanics and theme.

Mish-mosh of mechanics from other games. Doesn't gel. Boring graphics.

This is NOT a fast-action game. Every rule has too many exceptions; it's way too fiddly. In fact, it's probably the fiddliest block game I've ever played.

If you don't mind learning lots of exception to lots of rules, it's probably not bad.

Great game - almost solitaire, but the sounds of anguish echoing around the table make for interesting music while you play. At some point you will also cry out as you discover the lovely brown-blue input you so desperately wanted has the intake pipes on the wrong sides ... I really enjoy this game every time I play!

More frustrating than fun.

Very enjoyable quick filler!

First edition - my favorite Age of Sail rules. Simple, exciting, fun - can handle large action without bogging down. Not chart-intensive or record-sheet intensive.

Clean system, easy enough to understand and with minimal record keeping to control many space ships, and yet still return "realistic" results. (It *is* a science fiction game, so I'm not sure what "realistic" would really mean, but I mean the vector-based movement "feels" like spaceships should feel, unlike something like Silent Death, which feels like tanks moving in the desert.) See my review.

All right, my friend Brian and I are probably the only people in the world who rate this game as a 10, but we love it. It's our traditional session closer when there are only two of us - we've played over 200 times and still call for it and the end of the evening. However, we don't quite follow the rules - we play you have to land on a GOOTMU to pick it up. We also only play it as a two-player game. (I don't think it works well with more.) See my review here on BGG.