Gameology Blog - Gamer's Hub Online
Getting Started with D&D - What to Buy!
To an outsider, Dungeons & Dragons seems impossibly complex. The barrier for entry appears an insurmountable wall, armored with rules and barricaded with the game’s long history. But today, that all changes. Today, we’re here to tell you about five products that will help you get started on your D&D adventure! 1) Starter Set The cheapest and easiest way to start playing D&D is to pick up the Starter Set. In fact, this was actually what my partner and I bought when we first started playing D&D. Contained within this box are: Five ready-to-play characters Six RPG dice One mini-campaign (The Lost Mines of Phandelver) One rulebook One blank character sheet Something I get asked quite often by customers in the Gameology retail store is, “What’s the difference between the Starter Set and the Essentials Kit?” (see below). Well, for one, the Starter Set is cheaper. But for me, the most important difference is that the Starter Set comes with five premade characters, with their character sheets already filled out for you. One of the most fun and exciting things about D&D is getting to make your own character and be as creative as you want. However, when you are new to the game, this level of possibility can be very intimidating (it was to me!). With the premade characters, it ensures you get into experiencing a real D&D session as quickly as possible. The included campaign is also fairly straightforward—awesome for new DMs. 2) Essentials Kit The newer, fresher version of the Starter Set is the Essentials Kit. In this kit, you get: A 64-page rulebook (including 1-on-1 rules for playing D&D with just a DM and a single player) One campaign (Dragon of Icespire Peak) 81 multipurpose cards in a tuckbox (used for magic items, sidekicks, conditions, etc) 6 blank character sheets Set of RPG dice One double-sided map One Dungeon Master’s screen Though slightly more expensive than the Starter Kit, this Essentials Kit is great value for money and definitely the preferable option if you would prefer creating your own character over starting with a premade one. The included rulebook contains rules and tips for character creation, unlike the Starter Set rulebook. If you are looking to be the DM in your group, this is packed with useful stuff for you in particular, like the DM screen to keep your notes secret and have a handy reminder of the rules, and the cards to help with the more fiddly aspects of running a campaign. Great value for money and a solid choice for your first step into the world of D&D. 3) Player’s Handbook Ask anyone: the Player’s Handbook is the essential rulebook for D&D. Even if you are looking to be a DM, you need this book. Contained within are all the core rules for D&D, everything from creating and levelling up characters to exploration and combat to spells and equipment. This is the foundation of knowledge that every D&D player has. Though it’s quite large and intimidating, you don’t need to read the entire thing. Treat it as an ultimate reference book and you’ll be smoothly sailing through your adventures. 4) Dungeon Master’s Guide If you’re going to be the DM for your D&D group, this is the book you need. Overall, it is excellent for DMs looking to create their own campaign, but even if you are running a pre-written campaign, it provides a deep dive into the rules and flow of D&D, from the perspective of a DM. Where players can bumble and fumble their way through the first few games, as a DM, you need to keep track of a lot of rules and most importantly, keep the session flowing. The Dungeon Master’s Guide, with its nitty-gritty ideas and notes, will give you the tools you need to be a great DM. 5) Core Rulebook Gift Set But...if you’re looking to go all out and dive straight into the deep end of D&D, your best bet is the Core Rulebook Gift Set. Packaged in a thick and luxurious textured slipcase, this gift set contains what I call the trifecta of D&D books: the Player’s Handbook, the Monster Manual, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Even though the image on the covers is the same as on the versions of these books that are sold individually, these gift set versions actually have a really cool matte-metallic finish, making them feel ultra-luxe. This gift set also comes with a DM screen to round out the collection. With this kit, you’ll be set for any campaign you embark on. BONUS: RPG Dice Set If you’re going to play D&D, you’ll need some RPG dice. If you bought the Starter Set or the Essentials Kit, you’ll already have a communal set, but eventually, you’ll need/want your own. The Oakie Doakie sets come in a variety of colours and finishes and contain all the RPG dice you’ll need to start playing D&D. However, if you really want to customise your dice set, come along to our retail store! There, we sell single RPG dice so you can mix and match to create a custom set! And there we have it! Our top recommendations for products to get you started with D&D! We wish you all the best on your adventures! Got any other recommendations for new D&D players? Let us know in the comments below!
Read moreGameology Blog - Gamer's Hub Online
To Cap Off 2020 - Top 10 Games of the Decade
Where were you a decade ago? Were you graduating university? Getting married? Having your third child? Here’s a better question: Were you even playing board games ten years ago? This last decade has been a period of flourishing growth for board gaming and its community. So as our tumultuous 2020 comes to a close, let us reflect on ten of the best board games this decade brought us and why I love them so much. Spirit Island Creative, ethereal spirits and asymmetric cooperation. Playing Spirit Island is something truly beautiful. At once deeply strategic and thematically rich, the two, sometimes three, hours it takes to play feel like mere minutes. And that makes sense for a game about spirits who have existed on this fictional island for longer than time can chronicle. The asymmetric spirits play beautifully off each other in cooperation, with each spirit’s strengths filling in another’s weaknesses. A strong blend of asymmetry, cooperation and theme that, like the spirits themselves, will stand the test of time. Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 Bringing the legacy mechanic to a franchise with a legacy of its own. For a while, I was under the impression that all legacy games were long and heavy, laden with complex strategies that would take hours to wrap my head around. In 2015, Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 released and introduced the legacy mechanic to the thousands of fans of the original game. Preserving the core of Pandemic gameplay, but adding lasting impact to each of your choices, Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 lets players form their own stories in the familiar cooperative game. Will your scientist survive the whole story? Will London fall to the virus? In Pandemic Legacy, you’re simultaneously the authors and the characters. Decrypto No other party game makes you and friends feel quite as clever. Word games are among some of the most common party games but there’s something special about Decrypto. Maybe it’s the components—red-scrambled cards which you slide into your screens to reveal secret words. Maybe it’s the mechanics—not only do you have to guess your own team’s secret codes, you have to try and intercept the others. Or maybe it’s the feeling you get when you write a clue like “the poetry of crashing waves in springtime” and watch your team’s eyes light up in realisation while the other team descends into confusion. Yeah. That’ll be it. Underwater Cities Traditional and classic, but finely crafted—like a vintage cheese. It’s not the flashiest of board games. It’s kind of long, the only pretty things are the city dome components, and it often pales in comparison to Terraforming Mars. Heavy and strategic, part worker-placement, part hand-management, Underwater Cities is a Euro-style game, quite solitary, full of miniscule choices that build up into big results. But there’s something devilish in those details—how each turn, you both place a worker and play a card that matches the space’s colour. How the green actions are powerful but the matching cards are weak, and vice versa for the orange. How you need to balance the need for steel to build cities with the need for kelp to keep those cities alive. Out of all the games on this list, this is probably the most traditional—it’s just a city builder with worker placement. But the intricacies of those mechanics and the fine balance between the various elements, that’s what makes Underwater Cities shine. Wingspan The bird-themed board game so beautiful I wrote my final university essay on it. With the aesthetic and artwork to appeal to non-board-gamers and the inherent satisfaction of an engine-building game, Elizabeth Hargrave’s Wingspan is a true beauty. While playing, you’ll often find yourself gazing at the intricate illustrations, reading off the little facts on the bottom of every card. The elegance of the theme even extends into the smoothness of the engine-building mechanics, how filling your wildlife preserves with different bird varieties feels like preparing to take flight, accelerating with every action. A wonderful blend of elegance and engine-building. One Night Ultimate Werewolf A reimagined, app-driven classic. I have fond memories of playing the traditional social deduction game, Mafia, in high school drama class. We would sit in a huge circle in the theatre and the teacher would act as the Storyteller. Most of the time I just sat there while other people killed and healed and investigated, but I loved the concept. Years later, at a board game night, I played One Night Ultimate Werewolf. With its app, short playtime and dozens of hidden roles, it felt at once familiar and fresh. This game takes everything that sometimes sucks about the traditional Mafia or Werewolf and makes it fun and modern. A great reimagining of a classic. Nemesis A semi-cooperative chonker loaded with tension and minis. At first glance, this game might look like a bloated Kickstarter board game packed with unnecessarily fancy components but not much substance. But something I realised in my first playthrough is that there’s a reason we like nice components, beyond simply aesthetic. In my playthrough with my boyfriend, the first time we ran into the Queen alien and plopped her humongous miniature onto the board, taking up the entire hexagonal room tile and completely dwarfing out itny human minis, I’ll admit it, I was actually kind of scared. Rolling the noise dice and getting the icon that makes you place the thick yellow plastic noise markers in every surrounding corridor, each one making a faint but ominous click, fills you with genuine fear to leave that room. Even the rulebook comes with an introductory short story that walks you through the flow of the game! Nemesis is a game of atmosphere and tension that’s completely worth the price. Scythe Mechs are sick. When my boyfriend was first getting into board games, Scythe was one of the games he was instantly drawn to. I mean, just look at that artwork. Those beautiful paintings integrate mechs like they were always there, just part of history like any other war machine. Something Scythe does incredibly well is balance scale and flexibility. Though it may look like a wargame on the surface, with its giant mech minis, there are many ways to win in Scythe, many of which are not at all violent. Additionally, Scythe does something similar to Wingspan in that its theme—dieselpunk 1920s Europa with mechs—offers a smooth gateway into its mechanics—area control and resource management. An eye-catching and well-constructed game, both inside and out. Azul Strategy, sophistication, and handfuls of stunningly tactile tiles (clink-clink). If you’ve ever felt Azul’s colourful tiles rolling between your fingers, you’ll know the appeal of tactility in board games. In an abstract game like Azul, these tiles help you link the strategy in your mind, to the board beneath your fingers. As you build up your wall of tiles and patterns, you can get lost in both the warm colours and the strategies of placing those warm colours in specific rows and columns. It’s this mix of tactility and abstraction that make Azul a perfect little gateway game. Gloomhaven The RPG that weighs as much as a car tyre—both mentally and physically. I wince every time I have to pick this game up. And yet, there is no denying that Gloomhaven was one of the most popular board game releases in the last decade, holding the number 1 rank on BoardGameGeek for years on end. This is a game that could become a lifestyle. It could become your routine to play some Gloomhaven every Saturday night, or every single night. With 100 scenarios and an average of 180 hours of gameplay, it’s like a video game RPG! It’s undoubtedly a commitment but its unique cardplay combat, plethora of sealed packets to open up, and compelling world and story make it undeniably worth it. - And so the year—and the decade—comes to a close. Take a moment to reflect: what were your favourite games of the decade? We welcome your comments below! Here’s to another great decade of board gaming!
2020: A Year in Review - Best New Games
Though 2020 has been a tough year, one thing that kept us going was board games and the new releases that came out despite the pandemic. Walk down memory lane with us as we recount 5 of the best new games from 2020. 1) Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion This standalone storybook campaign game I lovingly call “mini-Gloomhaven” was undoubtedly one of the best new releases of 2020. While we all suffered through the long lockdowns (plural), this 25 scenario campaign, designed to be more beginner-friendly than its heavyweight predecessor, was the perfect thing to play with roommates and partners to keep the days rolling. With its easy setup, thanks to the storybook maps, and its gradual tutorial, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion left its mark on board gaming in 2020. 2) On Mars This big box strategy game from the master of heavy board games, Vital Lacerda, graced our table this year with brain-melting complexity and a demand for our table’s real estate. The board is, quite frankly, ginormous and the brainpower tax immense, but I say all this with the utmost respect because On Mars is a cerebral experience. Though from afar this game might just look like a bigger Terraforming Mars or a mishmash of mechanics, the tight weave of those mechanics is what grants On Mars a spot on this list. 3) Fort A common complaint with my most adored deck-builder, Dominion, is how it can slog with any more than 2 players. You can spend the entirety of everyone else’s turn just sitting there, thinking, “...is it my go, yet?” But like a breath of fresh air, Fort is a deck-builder that thrives on player interaction. In Fort, players are kids trying to make friends, eat pizza and build the best fort. But with its thematic mechanics where you can claim other players’ friends if they don’t play with them, or benefit from the actions they noisily and publicly play (as kids do), it solves many of the issues that deck-builders suffer from. And with that iconic artwork by Kyle Ferrin (also the artist for Root), Fort was a small but mighty 2020 release. 4) Mariposas The new butterfly-themed light strategy game from Elizabeth Hargrave, designer of the sought-after Wingspan, released in 2020 to once again bring unique and original themes into board gaming. Taking place over three seasons, in Mariposas, whose name constantly evokes nostalgia for the Barbie movie with a similar name, players will guide monarch butterflies from Mexico across northern America and back again, evolving through multiple ephemeral generations. Like 2019’s Wingspan, 2020’s Mariposas is a gateway game with a sophisticated theme and gorgeous production. 5) Mysterium Park And now for the wildcard of the list—it’s the late 2020 release, Mysterium Park, a lighter version of its 2015 counterpart. With its simplified setup and smaller box, in many ways Mysterium Park is Mysterium-lite. At its core, gameplay is the same, with one player as the silent ghost and the others as investigative psychics to whom the ghost can only communicate through cryptic (but gorgeously illustrated) vision cards. By retaining the heart of Mysterium but placing it in a smaller, easier to pick up package, the elegant theming of Mysterium can be appreciated anywhere by anyone. And there we have it! Five of the best new board games of 2020! What do you think? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below!
𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀
We all know the horrors of seeing family at Christmas and having to fend off mundane questions from in-laws and distant uncles. You know something that makes family gatherings (in any season) more palatable? Food. But also board games (plus they’re non-perishable). To prepare you for the holiday season, here are our top 5 games to play with your family this Christmas—or any family event! 1) Mysterium Perhaps your family is a fan of Cluedo, but there’s that one cousin that’s just too good at it and always wins. The 2-7 player cooperative deduction game, Mysterium, might be just the game for you. In this thematic party classic, one player acts as ‘The Ghost’ and the other players are psychics called to this house to investigate who murdered this person and turned them into a ghost. Each psychic will be following their own line of questioning, identifying a suspect, location and weapon from information the ghost gives them. The catch? The ghost is not allowed to talk throughout the entire game. The only way they can communicate is through cryptic but beautifully illustrated ‘vision cards’. Since everyone at the table is working cooperatively to solve the mystery, there’s little risk of saltiness. Though the ghost cannot talk, the players can, and you and your family will discuss these mysterious images, wondering whether the ghost meant for you to choose the barber (because of the scissors in the image) or the gardener (because the card is green). With gorgeous components, from the moody DM-style ghost screen to the crystal ball shaped player pawns, Mysterium’s atmosphere and cooperative play will bring the family together. 2) Decrypto Just like Mysterium was a fresh family alternative to Cluedo, Decrypto is a fresh take on Codenames. Like Codenames, Decrypto is a team-based word game, however—in my personal opinion—I think it’s even better. Each team will get a high-tech screen with red plastic-covered slots to slide in word cards. Though the word cards at first look like garbled red images, slide them into the slots and the red plastic will reveal your team’s four secret words. It’s a little touch, but one that perfectly matches the ‘high-tech’ aesthetic of the game. Say your secret words are ‘France’, ‘wolf’, ‘coffee’ and ‘man’, in that order. Each turn, one person on your team will draw a card with three numbers on it and look at it secretly. Perhaps their code is 3-4-1. So now, they say to their team, ‘morning, moustache, art’. The team will look at their secret words, associate the clues with the numbered words, and hopefully (if they’ve interpreted it right), say the code ‘3-4-1’. It’s a little more complex to explain than the easy-to-pick-up Codenames, but the extra effort is absolutely more rewarding. Because, oh, I forgot to mention, the other team is listening to your clues and they can attempt to intercept you and guess your code (and vice versa, of course). So, yeah, you could use ‘Eiffel Tower’ as a clue for France, but that would make your code very, very easy for the other team to intercept! The fun of Decrypto is trying to make clues obscure enough for the other team not to guess, while at the same time, not confusing your own. It’s a family must-have, in my opinion. 3) Sushi Go Party My mum ADORES this game. When my family and I go on camping trips, this is the game we bring. We play it around the breakfast table, we play it after dinner, we play it in the mid-afternoon, it’s just the perfect, light family card game. So what is Sushi Go Party? In this adorable little game, you and your family will be at a sushi train restaurant. As the sushi whizzes past, you are trying to grab the best combination of sushi to score you the most points. I absolutely love how this game imitates the movement of a sushi train. Each turn, you will choose one card to keep from your hand of cards and pass the rest along! Each type of sushi scores differently. Too much eel will score you negative points, but just the right amount will score 7! If you have more maki than everyone else at the table, you get 6 points! If you put wasabi on your nigiri, that’s triple points! Though Sushi Go Party does have a smaller non-party version, I highly recommend this bigger tin as it contains more sushi varieties and hence, more replayability. What’s also great about Sushi Go Party is that it introduces the card-drafting mechanics, potentially opening your family up to playing more strategic card-drafting games like 7 Wonders or Bargain Quest in the future. 4) Bohnanza This set-collection game is severely underrated. Yes, the art is a little old-fashioned, but Bohnanza itself is a surprisingly hilarious game of bidding and yelling. In essence, all you are trying to do in Bohnanza is grow and sell large quantities of bean varieties. Each turn, you must plant the first 1-2 cards in your hand into your two available fields. Then, you reveal the top two cards of the deck and you decide whether you want to keep them, in which case they get planted directly into your field and you must harvest whatever was already there, or trade them away. It doesn’t matter if you were setting up to plant the next three chilli beans in your hand, if you don’t trade away those beans in front of you, you’re forced to plant them. And here’s where all the fun of Bohnanza is. More often than not, those cards you have to reveal off the top of the deck are cards you do not want. But other players might want them quite desperately. Maybe Aunt Lisa is going to offer you two chilli beans for that one stink bean in front of you. But your dad can give you one chilli bean and take both the stink bean and that cocoa bean in your hand that you don’t want. Let the chaos and the arguing ensue. Though Bohnanza is a confrontational game, it is backed by strategy. Since you’re always watching other people’s trades, wondering if you can jump in and get rid of some of your unwanted cards, there’s no downtime! Playing up to 7 people, Bohnanza is a chaotic card game that, if anything, is hilarious to watch your family play. 5) Pandemic All the games we’ve covered on this list so far are more party-oriented games. Games that are fairly light and breezy to play. That changes here. For a more strategic and ‘board game-y’ experience, look no further than the cooperative crisis-management classic, Pandemic. 2-4 players are working together as members of the Center for Disease Control, tasked with stopping outbreaks of four diseases across the world. Once all four diseases have been cured, you and your family win the game. At the beginning of the game, each player will select a role, from the Scientist to the Researcher to the Dispatcher, each with their own unique ability. Each turn, you perform four actions, which involve anything from curing a disease by spending five cards of the disease’s colour to flying to a research station across the board. Then, you draw up cards from the player deck and reveal infection cards to see where the diseases spread to next. The theme is a little on-the-nose for what’s been happening in 2020, but regardless, Pandemic is a revered cooperative strategy game that’s heavy enough to provoke strategic thinking and problem solving, but light enough that even kids can play. Buying Guide In summary, if you’re looking for... An atmospheric cooperative deduction game? Mysterium. A clever team-based word game that’s not Codenames? Decrypto. An adorable card-drafting game approved by my mum? Sushi Go Party. A chaotic game of bidding over beans? Bohnanza. A strategic and cooperative game about curing diseases? Pandemic. And there we have it! Our top 5 board games to play with family this Christmas! What do you think? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below! 2021 Update 6) Paris Travel to Paris during the La Belle Époque Period, just after the World's Fair, and the construction of the Eiffel Tower, where prestige and architecture rule. In Paris, players are tasked to purchase some of these magnificent Parisian buildings in order to make a profit and invest in the development and upkeep of some of Paris’ most iconic buildings and landmarks Paris is a medium-weight Eurostyle-game with straight forward gameplay, short player turns, and an ingenious point-salad-like mechanisms. You mainly score points by obtaining the right buildings and collecting the right bonus cards. The simplicity, elegance, and art makes this a wonderful game for your family to crowd around and enjoy this Christmas. 7) Tumble Town If you're looking for something less refined and more dice stacking fun, then look no further than tumble town. In Tumble Town, players become the mayors of their own western township. Players must strive to build the latest and best buildings for their settlers, with each building providing a different ability. These abilities work (or don't work, depending on player skill) to create an engine to ultimately score you more points. Tumble Town is a simple and wonderful engine building game that will have any avid board gaming family pleasantly surprised. 8) Steampunk Rally Fusion Play as a Standalone or alongside the Original Steampunk Rally, Steampunk Rally Fusion utilises newly-discovered Fusion technology and time travel to make the zany race a little zanier! Take on the role of ingenious inventors from history. Draft cards to invent your racing contraption. Power your creation's abilities with combinations of steam, heat, electricity, and Fusion dice. Use cogs to augment bad dice rolls and upgrade certain machine parts. Smashing through damaging terrain spaces may cause parts to fly off your machine, constantly forcing you to adapt your strategy and discover new card synergies. Perfect for the overly competitive family who loves to dabble in dice rolling madness!
𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 - 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀
If you’ve ever come into our retail showrooms, you’ve definitely met some of our staff. For this *special edition* (ooh) blog post, we’ve asked five of them for two of their top board games. Let’s get to know some of the Gameology staff! Amanda Bargain Quest If you’ve ever met me in the showroom, chances are I’ve raved about Bargain Quest. In this game, players are shopkeepers trying to sell heroes the gear they need to defeat the monsters in town. The theme of this game is why I adore it so much. When you play a fantasy game, you generally don’t take notice of the shopkeepers. Getting to play as these overlooked characters is so unique and compelling to me. The theme is so well integrated into the mechanics, it creates moments of hilarity while playing that feel so natural and lived. It’s this cheeky light-heartedness melding so well with strategy that makes Bargain Quest one of my favourite board games of all time. Dominion Dominion was the game my older cousin left at my house one Christmas and, arguably, it is the reason I am interested in board games today. Players will try to improve their starting kingdom (deck) by purchasing better cards from a shared marketplace. Though the theme doesn’t quite carry through and it suffers at higher player counts, the mechanics more than make up for it. There’s nothing quite like whittling your deck down to a perfect engine and watching it rake in points every single turn. With all the expansions and different combinations of cards you can place in the marketplace, no two games of Dominion are ever alike. Eugene Scythe The first board game I was really excited to buy was Scythe and to this day, I’d still consider it an awesome game. Scythe has a dieselpunk/steampunk theme and is set in an alternate 1920s Europe with five different factions vying to build huge battle mechs to expand their control to the coveted Factory. I like this game because of its asymmetric war mechanics. Each faction has their own unique abilities so you can take on a different playstyle for each one. Plus, the expansions, ranging from new factions, to blimps, to a modular campaign, are great. Stockpile When I wanted to get into economic games, the first game I looked at was Stockpile. Players act as stock market investors hoping to make big money by bidding on ‘stockpiles’ comprised of shares from various companies. This game is buying and selling economics but dumbed down for quick fun. Games are fast—only about 45 minutes. Since each player gets hidden ‘insider tips’ on the market movement at the start of every round, there are even some social aspects in the background, creating tension and unease. This was my intro into stock market style economic games and I’d highly recommend it for anyone wanting a fast stocks game. Jon Welcome To This little roll and write game is simply brilliant. Welcome To places players as architects in the 1950s, tasked with building the best town. Where other roll and write games will use dice, Welcome To uses cards that players flip over each turn to reveal randomised results. For those who may not have much time for gaming because of kids and work and other commitments, this is a great option as it plays in only 25 minutes and is fast-paced and easy to set up. The Quacks of Quedlinburg The Quacks of Quedlinburg. Love the game, but geez, do I hate the name! In this game, players are ‘quack doctors’ making potions by adding ingredients to a pot and praying their whole potion won’t explode. Effectively, Quacks is a very simple and user-friendly deck builder—just without cards. Instead of a deck of cards, players will have a bag of ingredient chips which they pull from and add to each turn. The push-your-luck mechanic is great fun and the easy rules and catch-up mechanic keep everyone invested in the game, regardless of skill level. Jack War of the Ring War of the Ring is an in-depth, area control strategy game based on the Lord of the Rings universe. Lord of the Rings is one of my favourite books and playing War of the Ring throws you right into the thick of it. Playing as either the Free People or the minions of Sauron, you will be constantly making sacrifices and grabs for victory points. The level of depth and intricacy will mean that long after you’ve left the table you will still be thinking of what you could have done better. Brass: Birmingham Brass: Birmingham is heavy, economic euro-game, where you take on the role of an iconic entrepreneur during the Industrial Revolution. You will be vying to make the most money by selling coal and iron. My favourite aspect of this game is that you are able to use other people’s resources. This will give them benefits for “selling” their product but it can also be devastating if that was a resource that was critical for their plans. Constantly weighing the pros and cons leaves you in a position where succeeding in your plans can make you feel ingenious. Matt Aftermath Words cannot express my love for Aftermath. In this adventure book RPG, players are a misfit band of small critters, scavenging, surviving and trying to build their colony. What do I love about Aftermath? The minis in this game are the most detailed I’ve ever seen in a board game. The entire RPG is laid out in a storybook, meaning the book becomes your game board and you physically play on the surface of the pages. Not only does it make setup so quick and simple, it makes the whole campaign easy to pack away and pick up again later, much like saving a video game. Wingspan Birds are sick, yo. Like seriously, birds are cool. All the hype you’ve heard about Wingspan? It’s absolutely warranted. From a thematic standpoint, Wingspan places players as bird enthusiasts and researchers looking to attract the best birds into their wildlife preserves. From a mechanical standpoint however, it is an extremely well-designed engine-building game, where you are constantly trying to improve the efficiency of your actions. You’d think that birds and engine-building wouldn’t really go together but it manages to bridge this gap very well. And there we have it! Some of our staff members’ favourite board games! What do you think? Did we miss your favourites? Let us know in the comments below!
Magic: The Gathering Gift Giving Guide
Have you got a friend, partner or family member who plays Magic: The Gathering? Do you have absolutely no clue what to get them because you can’t tell the difference between a planeswalker deck and a booster box? Never fear, because here is our Gameology Magic: The Gathering gift giving guide! For the beginner... Planeswalker Decks or Commander Decks If your recipient is still fairly new to Magic: The Gathering, the best choice is a planeswalker or commander deck. At Gameology, there are several different sets to choose from, all with two or more planeswalker or commander decks in each! These decks are ready to play straight out of the box and help new players get familiar with the different mechanics. Perfect for those looking to learn the game! We recommend: Innistrad Crimson Vow Commander Decks (Pair) D&D Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Commander Decks (Set of 4) For the intermediate... Bundles These bundles are packed with tons of stuff and are the perfect gift for intermediate Magic players. Not only do they contain several boosters, but also foil (shiny!) basic lands, regular lands, a promo card, a spindown life counter, and a reusable storage box! Though the regular bundles are great, if you want to go the extra mile, go with the Gift Edition bundles! We recommend: Innistrad Midnight Hunt Bundle Magic Modern Horizons II Bundle For the seasoned... Set Booster Boxes Perhaps your Magic player already has it all. Well, that’s not true because any Magic player knows you can never have enough booster packs. And a booster box, which can contain over 30 individual booster packs, would be a Christmas dream come true. Imagine the anticipation and mystery of opening a Christmas present, multiplied by 30. No matter how long you’ve played Magic, you still get that feeling, every time you open a pack. This new set booster box for Crimson Vow is designed specifically for those who love to open packs and see what’s inside. We recommend: Innistrad Crimson Vow Set Booster Box Collector Booster Boxes However...if you really want to go all out, there are the vastly more expensive but insanely more valuable Collector Booster Boxes. These glorious shiny boxes contain 12 collector boosters (different from draft or set boosters) which are basically shortcuts to the best cards in the series. Open hundreds of other boosters and you won’t even get close to the cards in this box. We recommend: Innistrad Crimson Vow Collector Booster Box For everyone... Draft Boosters and Single Boosters These little packs are the bread and butter of Magic: The Gathering. Priced from $6 and up, they’re perfect for small gifts or stocking stuffers. We recommend: Innistrad Midnight Hunt Draft Single Booster And Last but not least - specifically designed by Wizards Of The Coast for this holiday season is... D&D Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Gift Bundle With all the customary Bundle goodies, plus special packaging and a Collector Booster, the Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Gift Bundle is the go-to choice for shoppers looking to purchase a gift for their favorite Magic fan. A note... Something to keep in mind for all Magic: The Gathering purchases are the current sets in the Standard mode of play. Certain sets will rotate out each year and if you’re not careful, you could end up giving your recipient cards they won’t be able to use! Since Standard is such a popular way to play Magic, it is always preferable to gift your friend/partner/relative products from the current Standard sets which are (as of writing this): Innistrad: Crimson Vow Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Strixhaven: School of Mages Kaldheim And there we have it! Our Magic: The Gathering gift giving guide! What do you think? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below!
𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 - 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗔𝗤
What time does the Gameology Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale start and finish? The Gameology Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale Starts at 12am 27th November and will run for 4 days finishing at 11:59pm on the 30th November. When does the discount get applied to my purchase?The Discount will be automatically applied at checkout for all the valid items in your cart. What contributes to me getting a higher discount amount? All items that are not a Trading Card Game product go towards earning you a higher discount level. Does the Black Friday/Cyber Monday discount apply to already discounted items? Yes it does! You get to take an additional percentage off whatever the price is listed on the website at the time. What is a TCG item that will not be eligible for the discount? Any product that falls under the TCG collection or Trading Card Game collection of our website is NOT eligible for the 5% discount. This includes products like Pokemon TCG Magic The Gathering YuGiOh Dragon Ball Super TCG Keyforge Final Fantasy TCG Digimon TCG And other games not listed above - if you would like to check a particular product feel free to contact us directly. Please note that as TCG items are not included as part of the sale the cost of these items does not go towards a higher discount amount Is there anything else not included in the sale? There is no additional discounts applied to gift cards. When will I receive the items I purchased as part of the Gameology Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale. In order to get your games on the table as soon as we can, we strive to process all our orders as quickly as possible. Orders made before 8am will be shipped from our warehouse the same business day. Orders made after 8AM will be shipped from our warehouse the next business day. All of our orders are shipped by our team directly from the Gameology Warehouse located at 12 Eileen Road Clayton South, VIC 3169. Please note that due to the expected volume of orders we do anticipate a delay of up to 3 business days on items leaving the Gameology warehouse. Standard shipping can vary from 2 to 7 business days, but in most cases you should allow approximately 5 business days from the purchase date. Express shipping should usually be 1-2 business days but on occasion can be delayed. What if the item I want is out of stock? The discount is only valid on in stock items or available to pre order items Any items that are listed as out of stock are not eligible to be purchased with the Black Friday/Cyber Monday discount at a later time. Does the shipping cost count towards my total for calculating discounts? No the discount amount applied to your order is only based on the cost of products.Does the discount apply to shipping? No the discount is not available on any shipping levels. If you have any other general questions about Gameology they may be answered under our FAQ section here If there are any questions about the Gameology Super Frenzy that we haven’t answered above please feel free to contact us at contactus@gameology.com.au or directly via our social media pages and we will be more than happy to help.
10 Great Games to Gift to Kids this Christmas
Christmas is just around the corner and with it, the stress of buying presents for the pickiest of present recipients—children and teenagers (and some adults!). Maybe they’re nieces, nephews, cousins, family friends, friends of family, many of whom you probably haven’t seen for the majority of this year. Or perhaps this picky child is your own child! Maybe you’re sick of playing the same old Monopoly or Jenga and you’re looking for a game to play together as a family, but you’re afraid of getting something too mature or too kiddish. Never fear, Gameology is here!!! Today, we will be doing a quick run-down of ten games that make great presents for kids and for those who love a great quick game. Keep in mind that while we have included the recommended ages for these board games as printed on the box, you know your child best! 1) Klask Recommended age: 8+ For those kids who love fast-paced competitive games, 2 player dexterity game, Klask, is a great choice. Similar to air hockey or soccer, you try to hit the ball into your opponent’s goal which is the hole in the table, but the cool trick is, you control your striker with a magnet held under the table! This dexterity game rewards quick reaction times as you try not to let your striker fall into your own goal or get stuck to the little magnetic ‘biscuits’ rolling around the field. A 4 player version of this game (Klask 4) is also available if you want to play as a bigger group! 2) Takenoko Recommended age: 8+ In this adorably colourful game, 2-4 players grow and harvest bamboo while feeding the Emperor’s panda. Though a little more strategic, kids will have no trouble picking up the mechanics of tile laying and action points, many of which lay the foundation for other board games you can play with them in the future! With its gorgeous stackable bamboo pieces and pre-painted panda and farmer pieces, Takenoko is both a treat to look at and a treat to play. 3) Kingdomino Recommended age: 8+ This bright little game is a perfect kids-friendly introduction to tile-placement mechanics. Starting from your castle, you will expand your kingdom by placing domino-esque lands, trying to match up terrain for the most points. After each player has completed a 5x5 grid, the game ends. Playing up to 4 players in only 15 minutes, Kingdomino is a fun, breezy tile-laying game that the whole family can enjoy. 4) Dominion Recommended age: 13+ If you've ever heard of "Deck Builders", it's normally followed up by "Dominion". Now this classic strategy deck-builder might seem like an odd choice for this list. When I was about 10, my 15-year-old cousin brought this game over to play on Christmas. However after Christmas, he accidentally left the game at our house and just forgot about it. Years later, as a teenager, I returned to this game and, to this day, it is probably my favourite board game ever. Without Dominion, I probably would not be into the board gaming hobby (and I also would not be here, working at Gameology, writing this post you’re reading right now). Though I would recommend this for teenagers as opposed to children, I have played it recently with my 10-year-old cousin and she found it easy to pick up. Dominion is a solid introduction to the deck-building genre and a game that could stay with your kids well into adulthood. 5) Princess Jing Recommended age: 8+ Described as ‘hide-and-seek as a board game’, Princess Jing is a 2 player hidden movement game where you must help a princess escape from the city! Players will sit opposite each other, and the gorgeous 3D pillars will totally conceal the positions of your pieces from your opponent. Kids will appreciate the fun novelty of using characters holding actual mirrors (!) to reveal their opponent’s pieces, and adults will appreciate the unique concept for a board game. 6) Minecraft: Builders & Biomes Recommended age: 10+ If your kid is uninterested in anything except video games, try this 2-4 player game based on Minecraft. Kids that are a fan of the original game will adore the familiar actions of mining resources and exploring the Overworld, and delight in the recognisable mobs like Endermen and Creepers. To be honest, as a Minecraft fan myself, I kind of want this game. For those stubborn kids who shun your attempts at introducing them to board games, bring their favourite video game to the table with Minecraft: Builders & Biomes. 7) My Little Scythe Recommended age: 8+ Everyone who knows board games knows the dieselpunk/steampunk legend, Scythe. With its giant mechs and strategic gameplay, it’s an iconic board game. Perhaps you dream of one day playing Scythe with your kids when they’re a bit older. In the meantime however, try the cute kid-friendly My Little Scythe. This sweet game maintains the essence of some of Scythe mechanics, like ‘powering up’ your player board, using dials and cards to determine combat, and moving across the hexes to gain resources, but keeps them light and easy to understand. With the theme of friendship ingrained into the mechanics and 3D animal mascots, My Little Scythe brings the classic revered board game to the kids. 8) Loopin' Louie Recommended age: 4+ I’ve covered a lot of strategy games so far on this list, but what about something simpler? Loopin' Louie has the lowest recommended age so far on this list, perfect for kids who aren’t ready to learn or play other games. In this 2-4 player game, players will try to defend their barn from Louie who is in a plane, looping and diving, trying to hit their barn! Each barn is equipped with a lever that pushes Louie back into the sky. Each player has 3 tokens of each colour (with chickens on them). The player who has any chickens tokens remaining at the end of the game is the winner! Loopin' Louie is a really silly and highly addictive game, it's definitely a favourite of mine! 9) Sushi Go Recommended age: 8+ In this adorable little tin, kids can pretend they are at a sushi train restaurant while also learning the basics of pick-and-pass card drafting. In the spirit of the primary school strategy for passing out worksheets, players will, each turn, keep one card from their hand and pass the rest along. Each different type of sushi has its own scoring criteria. For tofu, you want some tofu, but more than three? That’s just too much! Dip your nigiri into wasabi? That’s triple points! Though a bit of math is needed to calculate scoring, the little sushi are so cute, your kids won’t even realise they’re doing math. If you want even more sushi options to play with, a bigger version of this game (Sushi Go Party) is also available! 10) Exploding Kittens Recommended age: 7+ For a card game that’s got more of the toothy meanness of a typical Mario Party or Mario Kart session, try the 2-5 player card game Exploding Kittens. Loved by the whole family whenever someone brings it to our family lunches (pre-COVID), this is a game where you are, quite simply, just trying not to explode. Every turn, you must draw the top card of the deck. If it’s an exploding kitten, you explode and you are out of the game. However, certain card abilities will let you peek at the top few cards of the deck, shuffle the deck, skip your turn, even specifically place where you want the exploding kitten to go. Though it’s a bit of a mean game, it’s no meaner than shooting a green shell backwards in Mario Kart, so if your kids love that, they’ll love Exploding Kittens. If you really liked Exploding Kittens and you have more people that want to play, the Exploding Kittens Party Pack which can add up to 10 players (and it plays music when you open the box!). The creators have also made the same game but with a different theme to "Exploding Kittens", they also have Exploding Minions (Made famous from the movie Despicable Me). Buying Guide In summary, here’s a quick list of the games we covered, sorted by recommended ages: 4+: Loopin' Louie 7+: Exploding Kittens 8+: Klask, Takenoko, Kingdomino, Princess Jing, My Little Scythe, Sushi Go 10+: Minecraft: Builders & Biomes 13+: Dominion Please remember though that these ages are just recommendations! If you think your 5-year-old would love Sushi Go, by all means, go right ahead! (I myself first played Dominion at the age of 10.) And there we have it! Our top picks for the best board games to gift to your kids/nieces/nephews/cousins! What do you think? Did we miss any of your childhood favourites? Let us know in the comments below!
𝟭𝟬 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 2022! 🎁
It’s nearing the middle of November (how, we don’t know either) so it’s about that time to start thinking about the Christmas craziness! While Christmas this year might look a little different, the silly season certainly will not! In fact, thinking about your Christmas gifts earlier this year will absolutely help ensure that your giftees (yes, that is word, we will fight you on this) will get exactly what they want under the tree, despite longer shipping times and lower stock levels everywhere. Here at Gameology we’ve thought of everything, so in addition to ordering a BUTT-LOAD more games for you guys to enjoy between now and Christmas, we’ve also compiled a list of the 10 best games that make great Christmas gifts for any age and ability! Check them out below: 1) Azul A fantastic 2-4 player abstract game, Azul is one of the best ways to introduce new players to the weird and wonderful world of board games! Tasked with searching Portuguese factories and their leftovers for beautiful tiles, players compete to build the most beautiful wall possible and gain the most victory points at the end of the game. End game is triggered when a player constructs a full horizontal row of tiles, but fear not, as this rarely means said player will win! Points are gathered during and after play based on a number of different rules, easily turning this seemingly innocuous beginner game into a tense war of strategy with each play. 2) Betrayal at the House on the Hill An excellent immersive experience for 3-6 players, Betrayal is an acclaimed thematic game for good reason. Horror surely awaits as suspense looms over the creepy House on the Hill where the layout and scenarios change every play! In this constantly evolving game, players will work together to build a haunted mansion - or will they? Suddenly, you feel a waft of a misty air breeze against your skin and hear the faint desperate scream of a long-gone fair maiden carried on it… The Haunt has begun and someone isn’t at all who they seem. Survivors must now work together to uncover the Betrayer and escape the confines of the House before they become the next ghost of the manor! Arguably one of the best value-for-money board games currently on offer as no two plays are ever the same, Betrayal and its expansion - Widow’s Walk - that introduces an entirely new House level to build and explore, are the perfect addition to any board gamer's collection. 3) Sushi Go! Party A great game of family fun, Sushi Go! Party is the ultimate game for foodies of all ages! The fast-paced 2-8 player game builds on the wild success of its predecessor, Sushi Go!, where players dine at a sushi train, trying to grab the best combo of dishes as they whirl past. Players score points for collecting the most sushi rolls or for crafting a full set of sashimi. Players score extra points by dipping their favourite nigiri into wasabi as well. Sushi Go! Party builds on this, allowing players to customise each game by choosing “a la carte” from a menu of more than 20 dishes. But, beware the sushi you allow others to take - it might be exactly what they need to win! 4) Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion One of our pre-order must-haves out now and a perfect gift for board game fanatics, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a 1-4 player strategy game drawing on all the epic best-bits of the Gloomhaven realm and condensing them down to an easy-to-digest version for casual gameplay. Playing directly on a scenario book featuring new artwork and 25 new and unique adventures, Jaws of the Lion builds on the combat-centric mechanics of its predecessor, while also inviting heroes to explore more of their worlds and investigate a series of mysterious disappearances across their cities. One of the best ways to slowly and almost inconceivably transition friends and loved one’s alike to the universally praised Gloomhaven big box, you’ll need to get in quick, as release day will surely see a sell-out! 5) Pandemic A classic 2-4 player cooperative saga perfect for the current circumstances, Pandemic sees players work together to fight off four deadly diseases that are rapidly spreading across the world. As players move across the globe setting up research stations, using their unique character advantages and gathering city cards to eradicate the virus at those locations, the game has other ideas. Each turn, the game and its viruses try to thwart these noble efforts, raising the infection level and causing outbreaks in neighbouring cities and countries. Can you and your team of doctors and scientists rise to the occasion and help find the cures? 6) 7 Wonders: Duel A compact 2-player version of its parent game of the same name, 7 Wonders: Duel is the perfect gift for twosomes stuck in #iso who want all the fun of playing a big group game, but lack the big group to play it with! Like the original 7 Wonders game, players draft cards over three Ages to acquire resources or develop their military/scientific knowledge to advance their civilization and build their respective Wonders. Duel sees players draft cards from a tabled display instead of simultaneously, meaning that timing and gaining bonus moves will be the overarching mechanics that govern play. The player with the most points at the end of the game, wins, unless of course you’re cunning enough to develop your military or scientific knowledge beyond your civilisations capability... 7) Wingspan A wonderful strategy game for 1-5 players, this fast-paced engine builder will not only see players fawn over the excellent game mechanics, but the beautiful artwork and componentry as well! Players are bird-enthusiasts seeking to attract only the best birds to their wildlife reserves. Taking turns to draft bird cards on their player boards that will extend a chain of powerful combinations within each habitat, players will focus on gaining the most points to win by game end by meeting bonus round criteria, laying eggs on nests, cacheing food on birds and tucking birds underneath other birds. But beware, the amount of turns available after each round is drastically reduced as players move through the game. An addictive, visually appealing game, Wingspan and its Euro Expansion are guaranteed to delight whomever is lucky to receive them! 8) Obscurio From the publishers of Dixit, Dice Forge, Mysterium and the soon-to-be-released Athenuem: Mystic Library, Obscurio is the must-have 2-8 player semi-cooperative game that delights and astounds with its visual mastery! Combining image-based communication and secret role playing, players are encouraged to work together to collectively guide the team towards the exit of the immense library. But players be warned, the Sorcerer is out to mislead and keep you from ever escaping, unless you can uncover their identity before it’s too late! Supported by rich contents and a fantastic gaming pedigree, Obscurio is a fantastic family and party game alike, designed to be enjoyed by the masses but varied enough to play over and over again! 9) Nemesis Nemesis is the ideal space-themed survival adventure gift for the hard-core board gamer in your life. A 1-5 player semi-cooperative sci-fi horror game, Nemesis is certainly not for the faint of heart. Navigating their way across a decimated spaceship filled with hostile organisms, players must complete a set of objectives and board an escape pod back to Earth in one piece. But all is not as it seems. Player objectives are both cooperative and individual in nature; so who do you follow? Who can you trust? Players won’t know, right until the very end! A fantastic game that builds and settles climactic moments across play, Nemesis is an immersive experience that is both enjoyable and enjoyably frustrating at times. 10) Oceans: Deluxe Edition A visually stunning stand-alone game in the award-winning Evolution series, Oceans is a 2-4 player interactive engine-builder, based upon, you guessed it - the ocean! Players aim to cultivate the most productive ecosystem by building and evolving the various species they draw, keep or discard from their hand each round. By using Surface and Deep card abilities to their advantage, aiming to feed their organisms or risk them going extinct, players must also navigate between two unique scenarios that activate and deactivate at certain points. Experiencing a varied, challenging and constantly-changing game play that sees them adjusting their strategy to win, this game is the ideal gift for experienced board gamer's seeing their newest challenge. Why the Deluxe Edition you ask? The upgrade is well worth it as in addition to receiving all base game components, owners also receive the 5-6 player expansion, upgraded acrylic components (*drools*), printed card sleeves (*double drools*) and silky drawstring bags adorned with beautiful and vibrant artwork in which to hide your fishy-loot. The Deluxe Edition just adds that little something special to the gaming experience - and extra expense that will seldom go underappreciated by the recipient. Aaaaaand there you have it, our definitive list of the best Christmas gifts to satisfy every level of board gamer this silly season! Think we missed a game? Let us know! Comment below what board games you’re planning to nestle under someone’s tree this year or tell us what you’re adding to your Xmas wish list!
Gameology Super Frenzy FAQ
What time does the Gameology Super Frenzy start and finish? The Gameology Super Frenzy Starts at 12pm 10th November and will run for exactly 24 hours finishing at 12pm on the 11th November. When does the discount get applied to my purchase? The Discount will be automatically applied at checkout for all the items in your cart. Does the super Frenzy discount apply to already discounted items? Yes it does! You get to take an additional percentage off whatever the price is listed on the website at the time. What is a TCG item that will receive the 5% discount? Any product that falls under the TCG collection or Trading Card Game collection of our website is eligible for the 5% discount. This includes products like Pokemon TCG Magic The Gathering YuGioH Dragon Ball Super TCG And More! When will I receive the items I purchased as part of the Gameology Super Frenzy In order to get your games on the table as soon as we can, we strive to process all our orders as quickly as possible. Orders made before 8am will be shipped from our warehouse the same business day. Orders made after 8AM will be shipped from our warehouse the next business day. All of our orders are shipped by our team directly from the Gameology Warehouse located at 12 Eileen Road Clayton South, VIC 3169. Please note that due to the expected volume of orders we do anticipate a delay of up to 3 business days on items leaving the Gameology warehouse. Standard shipping can vary from 2 to 7 business days, but in most cases you should allow approximately 5 business days from the purchase date. Express shipping should usually be 1-2 business days but on occasion can be delayed. What if the item I want is out of stock? The discount is only valid on in stock items or available to pre order items Any items that are listed as out of stock are not eligible to be purchased with the Super Frenzy at a later time. If you have any other general questions about Gameology they may be answered under our FAQ section here If there are any questions about the Gameology Super Frenzy that we haven’t answered above please feel free to contact us at contactus@gameology.com.au or directly via our social media pages and we will be more than happy to help.
