Alrightgames: Onirim – The Sphinx, the Diver and the Confusion

Onirim: The Sphinx, the Diver and the Confusion

2014 / Solo/cooperative card game mini expansion / 1-2 players

***

Rare, precious and almost completely unnecessary, this reserve Dream team showed up on eBay eventually (along with a legit copy of The Mirrors), allowing me to put the final toppings on an already overbaked cake.

I was going to review them individually, but there's not much to say, all being minor variations on existing Nightmare or Denizen cards with the customary give and take. This variety is nice for its own sake, but I wouldn't miss them.

Alrightgames: Urbion expansions (Second Edition)

Urbion expansions (Second Edition)

2024 / Solo/cooperative card game expansions / 1-2 players

I dismissed the idea that more expansions could sweeten this game substantially over the first edition, ignoring how much the expansions make other games in the series bloom. It succeeded, but this isn't one where I feel up to playing with everything all the time, or even more than once in some cases.

Arch-Squares & Metas ****

Versatile new cards freeing up more choices with the catch of more obligations. I can't tell how painstakingly balanced these are, but as in the first edition, it seems to make the game slightly harder, balanced out by some other expansions.

The Chromatic Chaos ***

These "baddie" cards are much better behaved than their monochrome cousins and are often quite handy, until they start ganging up. So much chaos gets a bit overwhelming when you're only adding these in, but they're better diluted in the mix.

Temples & Concords ***

Minimalist Arch-Squares & Metas, if you particularly want a harder version of those, or more likely just want the game to last longer.

Hanging Gardens & Wizards ****

Adds powerful residents and less accessible locations. Finally, I'm feeling some immersion.

The Books of Powers ***

I've warmed to these since the first edition, though bad luck investments in powers I probably won't use can sour the mood.

Postcards to the Oniverse **

Thematically, another module referencing all the other games in the series to this point is a delight, and the rotating hourglass card is inspired. Gameplay-wise, it's insanely demanding, with so many different goals to keep track of each turn and cards moving all over your precisely balanced metro area to ruin everything. The first expansion in the whole series that I've found unplayable, I've not managed more than a few rounds before giving up out of frustration and bewilderment. Still, I'm glad it's there.

The Emptiness **

On top of everything else, this feels like one of those late additions that's just to put the figurine to use and to ramp up the difficulty that was already well balanced. Maybe one day I'll have mastered the game enough to appreciate it, though having to remember to keep moving it is a challenge in itself.

End of the Line: Ultimion! But it's not out yet, so the grand finale will have to be an inevitable incomplete Oniverse ranking instead.

Alrightgames: Urbion (Second Edition)

Urbion (Second Edition)

2012 (updated 2024) / Solo/cooperative card game / 1-2 players

****

Thanks, eBay price alerts. And it was a charity listing too, so that's... okay, I could have lived without upgrading a previously played and resold game I was lukewarm on, but the collection was almost complete (and I'm obviously going to buy Ultimion whenever it's released, which will supposedly involve all of these, somehow). And even as one of my less preferred titles in the impressive Oniverse range, it's still an addictively frustrating little game that I can never play just the once, and its generous assortment of new and revised expansions earns it an extra point for value, even if a couple are unplayably impossible.

Babyliography CCXXV

Steve White-Thomson, Sparklers: Autumn

2015 / Library book / 24 pages

**

School was out, but boring reading practice must go on.

Helen Cooper and Maya Shleifer, Rainbow Breath

2025 / Library book / 32 pages

**

A potentially helpful approach for bedtime worries, but they could have at least got the colours in the right order.

Colin Dann and Stuart Trotter, The Animals of Farthing Wood

1993 / Hardback / 78 pages

***

An abridged introduction to the bloody children's classic. How sanitised remains to be seen.

Alfie Dooley, Finding My Voice

2023 / Library book / 272 pages

****

She was captivated by this more musical and neurodivergent Baby-Sitters Club. I appreciated it reinforcing the acceptable age for phones and piercings too.

Rebecca Patterson and Nikki Dyson, Nursery? Not Today!

2021 / School book / 32 pages

*

She isn't very enthusiastic about the school's picture book selections, but we have to get through them. For good measure, this one's all about lies that don't get called out or punished.

Alrightreads: Gamesmaster VI

R. B. Skald, Tails of Equestria: The Bestiary of Lost Creatures

2020 / Ebook / 50 pages

***

A handy fan update for the dead game adding some missing creatures and characters. It inspired me to add one of the sirens to a DIY adventure, which went down well.

Tyler Monahan, One Page Adventures

2022 / Ebook / 66 pages

*****

Loads of ideas and prompts, nicely themed by generic and more specialised locations. Diverse and flexible enough that I was able to craft multiple sessions for a five-year-old just by skipping the killing parts. Maybe one day I can put them back in.

Michael Shea, The Lazy Dungeon Master

2012 / Audiobook / 156 pages

***

I'm not this obsessive anyway, but good to nip any tendencies in the bud. The guide stresses that it's not for newcomers, but it just seems like common sense. It also didn't need to be so wrapped up in the D&D branding, unless it contractually did.

Plastiboo and Michele Nitri, Vermis I & II

2023 / Ebooks / 304 pages

****

An analog horror nightmare of some kind of game manual, I may retrieve them from the cobwebs and dust for inspiration if we're still roleplaying when she hits her Five Nights at Freddy's / creepypasta phase.

Mike Mearls and James Bell, Sword & Sorcery: Nature's Fury

2001 / Paperback / 42 pages

****

A couple of nicely intricate and variably appealing advanced roleplaying scenarios like the earlier To Stand on Hallowed Ground. I simplified the frozen tower for our needs and used some of the cutouts.

Ranking the Ozzy Osbourne albums

The short-lived period where I preferred Ozzy's solo career over Black Sabbath ended as soon as I heard more than a couple of their songs, but he was still good for a fun retro session every now and then. But with a revolving door of so many talented musicians, there must be some substance to the discography, right? Here are my Top 13 Ozzy "Solo" Albums, now I've given them a listen.

Alrightgames: Jim Henson's Labyrinth – The Adventure Game

Jim Henson's Labyrinth: The Adventure Game

2019 / Roleplaying game / 2-5 players

***

We like Labyrinth, but this heartfelt adaptation is more for the hardcore fans who'd shell out for its imitation prop packaging than families looking for a fun activity to stay in the world a little longer after the film's over, especially since playing the sequel to a different character's specific fantasy feels like a knock-off.

Too roleplay-dependent to be a straight puzzle adventure and possibly too simplified for RPG veterans, it's a niche curio all right. We played through a few rooms, but the prelapsarian player had more fun acting out the film with assorted toys.

Alrightgames: Catan – Race Against the Destroyer

Catan: Race Against the Destroyer

2009 / Board game variant rules / 1 player

**

This unofficial variant mashing up Catan and Forbidden Island looked like a more exciting alternative to playing regular Me1 vs Me2 vs Me3 Catan, but it ended up duller. Stuck in a whirlpool towards my settlers' inevitable demise, I eventually gave up to save about an hour of my actual life. I used this precious extra time as wisely as you would expect.

Alrightgames: Robot Turtles – Galapagos

Robot Turtles: Galapagos

2013 / Board game variant / 2-4 players

***

I forgot there were rules that make the educational programming activity into an actual game that encourages the junior programmers to be malicious hackers. With opportunities to spoil your opponent's carefully-planned movements by placing a block in their way or zapping them backwards (unless they cleverly preempt this by programming backwards movements anyway – only for you to refrain from zapping them, so they make themselves go backwards for no reason), it has the potential to be evil fun, but I went easy on her.

Alrightgames: One Page Adventures – Hills & Wizard's Tower

One Page Adventures: Hills & Wizard's Tower

2022 / Roleplaying game adventures / 2+ players

***

There was some suitably magical and fairy taleish inspiration (when omitting the violence) in these formerly unconnected spreads to beef up the journey and destination of a Tails of Equestria mini adventure. The random magical ice door dictated the next leg, which needed a more detailed source.