Dream On (DIY)
****
Another school break, another storytelling game that's easy and even preferable to mock up using superior Dixit cards rather than needlessly buying it. It's friendly and cooperative like Muse, but this time as a memory game. I'm not sure how long the egg timer's supposed to last, but we turn it over again to give us more time to forget the stupid names the other player came up with. I provided appropriate tokens, but it was immediately clear that scoring didn't matter.
2020 / Card drafting game expansion / 2 players
****
The more devious and grounded counterpart to the lofty Pantheon, I warmed to it quicker (the shiny cubes helped), though the new machinations are so dominant that there's a case for preferring vanilla. Like the other expansion, more to think about means there's more to worry about and be distracted by, and letting your guard down for a moment can mean a knife in your back. Or basic oversights like accidentally building 8 wonders.
Combining them all isn't too complicated once you're familiar with the rules, it's just extra hassle to set up.
2025 / Board game expansion pack / 2-6 players
*
Do you like going to jail in Monopoly? Of course you do! Here's more of that!
This was the least appealing of the frivolous Monopoly expansion range, especially for playing with a child who I try not to be "mean" to even when we're playing fairly, and who I didn't really want seeing crime and corruption rewarded. This denial naturally made it the one she wanted the most. I let her trade in some unwanted stuff that was hogging shelf space, so her inevitable criminal career will be her own fault, don't blame me.
Unlike the other ludicrously lucrative expansions, this one didn't noticeably make the game faster as claimed, and no one even went to Super Jail where they stash the good cards. We quit when bedtime was approaching and boredom had long since set in.
It's more palatable when mixed in with the rest to play inadvisable Meganopoly, but it'd be better without.
2017 / Tile placement board game expansion / 2-6 players
**
Resold
Never released in the old art style, this next-generation original wasn't on my radar at all until someone dumped their collection on eBay at prices too good to pass up for a big stack of tiles and wooden people with funny hats.
With more animal tokens and precariously balancing meeples, this is firmly in the category of completely unnecessary frills like all the later expansions, but this time the novelty wore off before the end and I got tired of seeing them come out. It was a memorable visit from the circus, but I don't need it to come again.
2021 / Card game / 1+ players
**
I told her there were only going to be 30 questions with up to three multiple choices (two, as it turned out), which we'd quickly learn by trial and error like I did with that Amiga Trek Trivia Quiz. But she wanted to complete the set ("why is it Top Trumps?"), it's at least educational, and they're the cheapest games on eBay. Plus, she gets to feel good about beating my worldly knowledge most of the time.
Atmosfear III: Anne de Chantraine, Witch
1992 / Video board game expansion / 3-6 players
**
Our next stop after the vampire was less impressive, and that bar was already quite low. Appointing selected players as her minions is a nice touch, but the multi-part spell cards and having to remember who's who (especially when you're two players doubling up in the first place) is all too distracting when you're already struggling to shift your pieces around the board before the next infernal interruption. I'm glad I tried it once though, and hope these characters don't show up in the six year old's nightmares.
Fluxx
1997 (2008 version) / Card game / 2-4 players
I was introduced to this chaotic card game in a hostel on my first travel stop in 2010, while appropriately pissed, and found its unstable "rules" and lolR@Nd0mness hilarious in my debilitated state. It'll never be that enjoyable again, but it seemed like a good call for playing with a child who enjoys the similarly swinging futility of Monopoly's Buy Everything expansion when it was going cheap on eBay.
The Action cards are a bit wordy for a six year old who refuses adult assistance, but that doesn't stop her from generally winning after a few turns anyway by randomly matching the goal. It's not exactly the madcap party I remembered. Maybe we need to get pissed?
This themed add-on rounds out the cardboard video game and makes it more interesting, challenging and amusing by giving the NPC Heroes familiar power-ups that translate well. It makes me root for those plucky little guys, even as I orchestrate their gruesome demises. It's just a shame they insisted on the quirky Game Boy packaging that's more than twice as large as it needs to be to store some cards you're going to mix into your other box anyway.
2023 / Puzzle game demo / 1-5 players
*
Donated
I said I wouldn't buy any more cheap and nasty games based on price alone, but this envelope game combined a quirky gimmick with a minimalist footprint, so I figured it wouldn't do any harm to add it to the box of miscellaneous curiosities.
I was wrong. Of the three puzzles in this sub-Usborne adventure, one is a basic spatial puzzle and the others require telepathy or a lucky guess. This has no value.
Star Realms: Frontiers Solo Challenges
