Alrightreads: Can You Hell Me How to Get, How to Get to...

R. L. Stine, Fear Street: The Fire Game

1991 / Ebook / 146 pages

**

Lacking the Internet and Minecraft, Gen X teenagers start fires for something to do. Are we sure some of these aren't being ghostwritten already?

R. L. Stine, Fear Street Super Chiller: Party Summer

1991 / Audiobook / 215 pages

***

The first bumper holiday special felt excessively long and padded at a modest 200 pages now that I've permanently ruined my attention span with children's books, but it escalated eventually, and I always appreciate a pun title reveal. It also teases us with Fear lore that's set to get excessive padding of its own at some point.

R. L. Stine, Fear Street: Lights Out

1991 / Ebook / 163 pages

***

That's it, mom and pop, I am never going to summer camp.

 

R. L. Stine, Fear Street: The Secret Bedroom

1991 / Audiobook / 160 pages

***

This feels like the default, bogstandard Fear Street book in all respects, which is no bad thing if you're 12.

R. L. Stine, Fear Street Super Chiller: Silent Night

1991 / Audiobook / 216 pages

***

Maybe I should have saved up the secular Christmas special rather than reading it in the summer, but it wasn't especially special.

Alrightreads: On My Way to Where the Blood Is Sweet

R. L. Stine, Fear Street: The Sleepwalker

1990 / Audiobook / 164 pages

****

Reading these for lightweight faux-nostalgia and the hope of cheesy laughs, I didn't expect to genuinely enjoy the stories, but this paranoid sleep deprivation simulation was really pretty good.

R. L. Stine, Fear Street: Haunted

1990 / Audiobook / 164 pages

***

This supernatural soap about a spoiled brat getting spooked by a double denim phantom seemed like one for the lame pile before it was saved by another unexpected and creative twist. Don't tell me I have to read all 4,000 of these now.

R. L. Stine, Fear Street: Halloween Party

1990 / Audiobook / 148 pages

**

The obligatory holiday special didn't play out as I expected, but wasn't any better for it.

R. L. Stine, Fear Street: The Stepsister

1990 / Audiobook / 165 pages

***

If you're too old and experienced in murder mysteries to be reading these books, you'll probably work out who done it, but there are at least a couple of credible suspects and it ultimately helps to push back against unfair prejudices, even if it relies on reinforcing them all the way through.

R. L. Stine, Fear Street: Ski Weekend

1991 / Audiobook / 165 pages

**

Probably the trashiest one so far, as well as the least surprising and least relevant for the series, not taking place anywhere in the vicinity, all topped off with misleading cover art that contradicts the plot for good measure.

Ranking Star Trek: The Next Generation season one

Oh well, I had to complete the set. And while I don't expect that any major re-evaluations are in store, I do have affection for these often bizarre and/or awful formative episodes, as I enjoyed collecting the re-released videotapes in 1998 and seeing most of them for the first time. Admittedly, I haven't seen any of them since that time, but there should be a few good ones in there, and the less good ones will hopefully be entertaining in their own ways.

Alrightreads: Gamesmaster VII

Various, Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game: Adventure Anthology 2

2019 / Paperback / 109 pages

****

More handy maps and flexible prompts to desecrate for our junior roleplaying needs so I don't have to make them up from scratch.

Justin Halliday, Hero Kids: A Fantasy Role-Playing Game for Kids Aged 4 to 10

2016 / Ebook / 50 pages

***

Too specifically Junior D&D to appeal to players who want more out of life than bashing baddies in PG-friendly ways, but it gives you everything you need for that, short of the adventures themselves. I'll keep it around in case anything's handy.

Evan Derrick, A. J. Porfirio and artists, Final Girl: Lore & Scenario – Series 1 & 2

2022/23 / Ebooks / 96 pages

***

The deeper end of bonus features from the shallow miniatures and storage boxes, these are mainly handy for the scenarios, which assume you have all the games ready to mix and match and seek to tempt those reading illegal Scribd uploads into succumbing.

Tarcísio Lucas, How to Play Published Adventures Solo & Old Solo Essentials

2022 / Ebooks / 40 pages

***

Brief briefs that could open up unlimited adventures, though the requirement to read the whole story beforehand would seem to ruin much of the point for many of them. Oracle, should I open the secret trapdoor right away or waste time exploring all these other dangerous rooms first?

Wil Su, Isaludo: Ten Modern Solo Games Using a Standard Card Deck

2021 / Ebook / 54 pages

****

They're not all modern classics, but some of them are. More importantly, he took the time to produce this free guide to free solitaire alternatives that basically anyone can try out. Automatic legend.

Alrightgames: Final Girl – Core Box & Frightmare on Maple Lane

Final Girl: Core Box & Frightmare on Maple Lane

2021 / Solo board game + expansion / 1 player

***

Resold

I'm not the biggest horror fan, but I'm enough of a solo board game and cheesy nostalgic 80s fan that I was tempted beyond my better judgment to get drawn into this endlessly repeatable game system and pick up a few appealing movies modules for whenever I'd eventually feel like learning the rules and actually playing one of them. When I finally forced myself, I realised that the cat and mouse hopscotch didn't do anything for me that Gloom of Kilforth didn't do better, with fewer fiddly dials. I've escaped its clutches, but other people will be hugely into it, and I wish them and their unfortunate dependents well.

Alrightgames: Isaludo

Isaludo: Ten Modern Solo Games Using a Standard Card Deck

2021 / Card game rules / 1 player

****

When looking into published games that can be stripped down and mocked up using regular playing cards and imagination, I came across Wil Su's compendium of original games (and variants with credits) purpose-built for the standard deck. Not all of them are likely to become new standards, but as a free guide to free games that most people can play right away to pass some time, it restored some faith in humanity. Now go forth and make card sandwiches and kill card zombies that are inexplicably dressed like royalty.

Skyway **

Weaving straights across time and space is beyond my mental capabilities, and I'm not convinced that my efforts fared much better than random chance would. Way to make me feel dumb at the first game, but fortunately the others are easier to manage.

The Sandwich Guy ****

Simple, quick and pretty fun, even if you don't have significantly more control over it than Uno. This could become a new standard, and I expect to see it commercialised and unnecessarily repackaged to pretend it isn't just regular playing cards underneath.

Saying that, when I introduced it to my daughter, she immediately dismissed it as "boring" and wanted to play I Doubt It instead.

Area 52 ***

More interesting and less gruelling maths battles than Regicide. It's not hard to win, but then you're up against the ultimate boss of your personal high score.

Dead Center ***

This base-under-zombie-siege boss battler gets appropriately tense as the deck starts to run dry, but constant eye-shifting calculations make it kind of annoying.

The First Boba Tea Shop in London ***

Four-way The Price is Right, the theme of rude customers butting in line doesn't feel sufficiently savage for this card bloodbath, especially with no Brucie to lighten things up. I've yet to succeed.

Foursquare **

Unchallenging, unengaging placement puzzle. There seemed to be no danger of exceeding the various rules of 4 unless I was doing something wrong.

Loot the Loop ****

Some of the random narratives contrived for these abstract matching games raise a smile, but this one really did start to feel like I was clearing out a sacred tomb (finders keepers) and was quite fun, if unchallenging.

Like the sandwich one, it's begging for a published version with illustrated traps, treasures and numbered trinkets that only more astute players would realise are just fancy playing cards.

Syndicate **

I feel like I've been tricked into practising times tables when I wanted to play a game. I've got Kingdomino for that. This was my least favourite of the bunch.

Hide and Seek **

An overly simple probability-based deduction exercise, I only fell short of the minimum score on the learning playthrough, and beating it was the only real reason to play more than once.

The Emissary ***

This one actually was commercially repackaged, and the Jacks' unbalanced special powers involve more learning or referencing than most of the others that you can get right into. It's one of the tenser ones, though I managed to succeed with a perfect score on my first play, so it probably won't have the replay value of the trickier ones.

Faves: The Sandwich Guy, Loot the Loop

Alrightgames: Space Lunch

The Matchbox Collection: Space Lunch

2020 / Card game / 1-2 players

**

Resold

I had a feeling this was going to be the dud entry in the collection. The concept of gorging on an exotic buffet is fun (though crazy cartoon art would have been a better fit), and there are amusing opportunities to screw up your opponents' plans, but it's not something I'd want to play over all the alternatives. The automated solo mode works fine, but having to constantly move two coins in different directions at different speeds is just annoying. It's starting to seem like shiny tokens were the main focus of this enterprise over actually making worthwhile games.

Alrightgames: Dustbiters expansions

Dustbiters expansions

Kind of.

Reinforcements ****

This cheeky and nitpicky "expansion" is really just three cards from the original 21-card game that were selectively removed from Button Shy's "Pocket Edition" to maintain their 18-card standard, then sold separately as an add-on. The horse and bike are at least distinct enough to feel expansiony, then there's another truck. There's no reason you wouldn't want these to complete your abridged game.

Rustlicker's Convoy solo variant ****

Seeing this fan variant on BoardGameGeek was more incentive to buy the game that probably doesn't suit my six year old's level or taste. It's carefully fiddly in the automa's favour, so it doesn't waste too much time doing stupid and self-destructive things, and it wins by chance often enough to be satisfying.

Alrightgames: Dustbiters – Pocket Edition

Dustbiters: Pocket Edition

2021 (2025 edition) / Card game / 2 players

*****

A more exciting tug of war than Anthelion, because post-apocalyptic vehicles move faster than people, the cartoon art and humour justifying totally unfair abilities might make it the most fun two-player game I have, though I mostly settle for an unofficial solo mode. Hopefully this Button Shy abridgement of the original game will always come with the removed-and-reinstated "expansion" cards in tow, or that would be less amusing.

Alrightgames: Regicide (DIY)

Regicide (DIY)

2020 / Card game rules / 1-4 players

***

A well-devised and intuitive battle gauntlet in standard playing cards if you're away from your proper games and want to teach something different, but it's a bit boring and unnecessary when I have Eiyo at home.

Alrightgames: Jekyll vs. Hyde (DIY)

Jekyll vs. Hyde (DIY)

2021 / Trick-taking card game / 2 players

***

This two-player duel wasn't on my radar until I saw it mentioned as a game that was fairly easy to mock up for free using standard playing cards, then it became irresistible (this is sure to be a new fixation). I really wanted to use Atmosfear cards for the juju, but those decks were all one number short, so I gave the unloved Dos some purpose, along with those versatile Pocket Mars cubes again.

The actual game is pretty interesting, with the Jekyll player seeking balance and Hyde pursuing landslide success or failure with equal relish. Although playing two-handed by myself was apropos for the schizophrenic theme, this meant that every round ended in a 100% tie, which means Jekyll will always win, and that just doesn't seem fair to the repressed maniac.

Alrightgames: Forbidden Island – Fan Expansion

Forbidden Island: The Islands & Treasure Powers Expansion

2016 / Co-operative board game fan expansion / 2-4 players

The publisher preferred to release increasingly harder sequels to this game rather than milk it with unnecessary modular upgrades, but fortunately the fan community came to the rescue with printable overcomplications. Will any be keepers?

Island Variants ****

Some of these were included with some versions of the game anyway, and are patterns you could come up with yourself, so it barely counts. Most or all are guaranteed to make the game harder to borderline impossible.

Treasure Powers ***

Free, thematically-relevant power-ups that are handy and make use of spare cards, though actions are less likely to be going spare by the time you've earned them.

New Roles ***

These make interesting alternatives for solo challenges, though they look a bit complicated for the six year old, especially as the lack of matching coloured pawns means we'd forget who we were.

Alrightgames: SOS Titanic

SOS Titanic

2013 / Card game / 1-5 players

****

As a solo player, I was intrigued, amused and sceptical about what seemed to amount to debatably disrespectful Titanic Patience, but I was ultimately swayed by the involvement of Bruno Cathala (responsible for way more of our favourite games than I realised) and a heavily discounted, slightly battered foreign edition, which spared me from struggling to mock this up using regular playing cards.

It is mainly Titanic Patience, but there are enough twists with special powers and frustrating rules to make it an addictive challenge and the theme carries it the rest of the way. Just one more try, I know I can save the children this time.

Alrightgames: Carcassonne – The Phantom

Carcassonne: The Phantom

2011 / Tile placement board game mini expansion / 2-6 players

****

I'd been making do with disappointing and distinctly opaque DIY versions of these incorporeal assistants for years, but they eventually came among the bonus goodies in a Big Box I was planning to upsell anyway. They edge on being too game-breakingly good, but everyone gets one, or they can give inexperienced players a ghostly leg up.

Alrightgames: Kingdomino – Age of Giants

Kingdomino: Age of Giants

2018 / Tile placement board game expansion / 2-5 players

***

Domino times tables isn't our favourite family game, but I can never resist an expansion for adding spice, and it was something to do over Easter break. I was a bit disappointed that the pre-owned set I bought off eBay was unknowingly missing many components, but the seller generously refunded it, those pieces could be substituted and printed without any trouble, and we now randomly have two complete sets of base tiles as a bonus, allowing us to make unwisely massive maps. The giants themselves being an unremarkable feature is less of an issue now.

Alrightgames: Atmosfear

Atmosfear

1991 / Video board game / 3-6 players

***

Thirty years after playing the refined omnibus edition, I crossed paths with the Gatekeeper again. He seemed meaner in this first outing as he terrorised and trash talked my child, but after scraping a win at 55 minutes, she wanted to play again. I advised against it for sanity.

The game is functionally terrible, some parts of the video will only work the first time (and YouTube veterans will see the jump scare coming anyway) and the box fits really awkwardly on the shelf. But doesn't it look great?

Alrightgames: Zombie Fluxx promos

Zombie Fluxx promos

I have a surprisingly good time playing Zombie Fluxx, if it can really be described as playing when you're at the mercy of the draw and frequently have your choices reduced from limited to none. They've milked it with a bunch of promo cards over the years, some of which (Larry and the Zombie Boss) were incorporated into my version anyway, others of which can be tried out by substituting other cards from surplus Fluxx sets and pretending they've got those words and pictures on. If I wasn't such a cheapskate, I'd barely have any games.

Flame-Thrower ***

I hesitated for a long time over paying £1 for a bit of card, but it's so deliciously overpowered that it seemed like a worthwhile investment to make the game a bit more entertaining and a little less annoying. I also liked the prospect of making other Fluxxes more amusing when immolating abstract concepts. Take that, War! It's a keeper. And also a Keeper.

Start the Clock *

Released to symbolise the countdown to the zombie edition, but it really seems like an impractical response to the criticism that Fluxx games can drag on. I don't need to try this out to realise how awkward and pathetic it is. When my daughter gets bored and wants to stop playing, she just says so, without needing official permission. We're not robots.

Zombies Eat Brains *

Both games have Brains in them, but this is specifically a zombie-themed addition to vanilla Fluxx released in misleading Zombie Fluxx packaging to promote the new game. You know, like promos are supposed to work. If this goal permutation didn't exist before, it seems pointless to add it in now. Where's the zombie?

Foam Brain **

An equivalent of the Radioactive Potato or the tribble thing from Star Fluxx for your zombie game, except now it's an occasionally useful keeper, so you can't kill it. I've been using the Brain from regular Fluxx to stand in, but it isn't doing much. Maybe use your brains to come up with an idea that's not just brains?

I Was Bitten by a Zombie! ***

Designed for Mystery Fluxx, I think, but it's on theme and the new card type is welcome, adding similar tension to the Zombie Victory Ungoal but even usurping it to become the new scariest card in the game. This might have been worth £1 if I'd seen it, but a substituted Death card from plain Fluxx gives the message clear enough.

Zombie Portal **

This was available when I bought the Flame-Thrower, but another random card draw effect wasn't interesting enough when there are already too many of those to keep track of by design.

Alrightgames: Zombie Fluxx

Zombie Fluxx

2007 (2008 Zombie Boss Boxx version) / Card game / 2-4 players

***

Having already parted with the uninteresting Star Fluxx, I wasn't planning on adding more themed variations to the collection, but this vintage set looked like a distinct enough experience from the standard game to be fun and have character, while also coming in a nice wooden box, for some reason.

As hoped, the constant threat of the zombie horde and addition of the Ungoal game-over condition make it more of an actual game and the generic tropes keep it on the approachable level of a lighthearted zombie apocalypse simulation rather than an overly-referential parody for nerds. Throwing in the Flamethrower promo and soundtracking it with the Misfits bumps it up to ****.

Alrightgames: Boss Monster 2 – The Next Level

Boss Monster 2: The Next Level

2015 / Card game / 2-4 players

****

Its predecessor isn't the most impressive game I've played this year, but it keeps drawing me back with its simple mechanics and simpler art, so the inevitable sequel was an inevitable purchase. It makes the heroes harder and room effects fiddlier, but mainly, like any good sequel, it's more of the things you like. I was a bit disappointed that they leaned way more into direct references this time though ("LMFAO, that is from Pokémon, with which I am familiar!!!"), which makes it feel more like a basic parody than a real lost game, but those are watered down when you inevitably mix it all together.

Alrightgames: Takenoko solo variants

Takenoko solo variants

I did buy it as a family game, honestly, but thanks to some variably official bastardisations, it doesn't have to sit on the shelf after the child's gone to bed (and all the rest of the time she isn't that interested in playing it).

Cooperative Mode ***

A belated official variant that makes the cute family game friendlier, though working together on tasks is less fun than ganging up on Dad. It doubles up as a solo mode that's good for practice, but trying to beat your high score (78) isn't especially thrilling.

Takenoko Automa (Solo Mode) ***

A cleverly-designed system of flowcharts that reasonably imitates a second player (though one who's obsessed with gutters), but is too much hassle to go through every game. Playing against myself still wins.