Alrightgames: Castellion expansion

Castellion expansion

2015 / Solo/cooperative tile game expansion / 1-2 players

A piffling single expansion makes one of my least favourite Oniverse games look even less appealing, but in fairness, the distinct expert level already serves some of that function, and there are various suggestions for putting the Menace figure to use too. Still, with only one expansion proper to turn the game around, it had better be bloody spectacular...

The Pantry ***

Six tiles that do nothing except fill mandatory space (and depict "yucky food" at that, according to a junior player). I throw them in because they're there, but they only get interesting if you find yourself up against the worm.

The Shadow of the Menace **

What it lacks in expansions, it makes up in ways to give the figurine something to do, modestly classed as appendices rather than expansions. The prison's quite fun, at least.

Ahoy, Mates!: Nautilion >

Alrightgames: Castellion

Castellion

2015 / Solo/cooperative tile game / 1-2 players

***

This customarily-convoluted tile-laying gravity puzzle looked like it was going to be the runt of the Oniverse litter, and I'm only on the fence because it's more distinctive than Urbion and my five-year-old likes it. As with Sylvion, the expansions are equivalent to difficulty modes rather than bolt-on modules, but faster and trickier. This probably makes it the better game, but it feels too boxed in. I'd rather play Carcassonne against myself, where you get to build things larger than 6 x 6.

Babyliography CCX

Susanna Davidson and Isabella Grott, Usborne Forgotten Fairy Tales: Snow White and Rose Red

2020 / Library book / 48 pages

**

The art aggressively confounds expectations (you thought Snow White was the one with black hair?), and the story's a bit stupider than the rest of the series, but still probably better than the other Snow White.

Various, My Little Pony: Friends Forever, Volume 4

2015 / Paperback / 100 pages

***

We'll leave the dull looking political one until last, if ever, but these generally meet the brief for more of the same pretty well. She was as smitten by the pink-haired dragon as Spike was.

Various, The Booktime Book of Fantastic First Poems

2008 / School book / 32 pages

**

Visibly abridged from the original collection, but that spared me. She didn't let me choose the two line ones.

Zanna Davidson and Barbara Bongini, Fairy Ponies: Rainbow Races

2014 / Hardback / 96 pages

**

She knows the formula by now, and predicted punctual trouble the moment they started enthusing about how wonderful everything was. If I'd known how much these plots were recycled in Fairy Unicorns, I might not have stockpiled them all, but too late now.

Madeline Tyler, Step Into STEM: Senses

2019 / Library book / 24 pages

**

She needs taste at school too, dumbass book.

Babyliography CCIX

Unknown, Ladybird Readers Beginner: My Little Pony – Zipp and Pipp Find a Flower

2023 / Library book / 24 pages

**

These oversimplify the plots, but she read it all herself, which counts for something.

Ben Clanton, The King of the World!: A Tater Tales Book

2024 / Library book / 96 pages

***

A nice fairytale. The prolific puns lost some of their humour when every one needed to be explained, but it's growing her vocabulary.

Mo Willems, Elephant & Piggie: I Will Surprise My Friend! / Pigs Make Me Sneeze!

2008/09 / Library books / 128 pages

***

She didn't feel like reading them herself, which is most of the point, but it was Easter break.

Rosie Dickens and Alessandra Santelli, Usborne Forgotten Fairy Tales: Clever Molly

2020 / Library book / 48 pages

***

Authentically unsqueamish and illogical. Molly's cleverness mainly seems to be in contrast to all the dumbasses around her.

Andrew Prentice and Maria Surdican, Usborne Forgotten Fairy Tales: The Sleeping Prince

2020 / Library book / 48 pages

***

Pleasantly fantastical with its casually personified elements and their domineering mothers.

Babyliography CCVIII

Unknown, Where's the Narwhal?: A Search and Find Book

2019 / Library book / 40 pages

**

Is it too easy or is she too adept? Probably both.

Rosie Dickens and Maria Surducan, Usborne Forgotten Fairy Tales: The Wise Princess

2020 / Library book / 48 pages

***

Too clever for Disney. She wanted to read it again immediately.

Raina Telgemeier, Sisters

2014 / Paperback / 208 pages

****

More chapters in her favourite teen reality comic. Less bloody than Smile, but with dead animals making up for it. She would have read it in one sitting if it had been up to her.

Various, Read with Oxford: Stage 3 – Non-fiction – Fantastic Nature

2019 / Library book / 104 pages

***

Level 3 isn't so intimidating, it's only some of the camouflage that was scary.

Rhiannon Fielding and Chris Chatterton, Ten Minutes to Bed: Happy Halloween

2024 / Library book / 10 pages

*

They've done the groundwork, now they get to cash in with the lazy seasonal board books.

Alrightreads: Tartarusaurus

Sarban, The Sound of His Horn

1952 / Audiobook / 154 pages

****

I was expecting the pastoral occult respite of Ringstones again. so the inhuman body horror caught me off guard. One of those certified classics I'm not in a rush to read again.

John Gale, A Damask of the Dead

1991-2002 (collected 2002) / Ebook / 100 pages

****

This ornate prose poetry is just what a boutique press is made for. I'd have appreciated it more if I had any romance in my soul or a nose for perfume, but there was still plenty of sorcery, spooky castles 'n' shit.

Faves: 'The City on the Farthest Shore of a Sable Lake,' 'The Old King's Prophecy: A Faery Tale,' 'A Damask of the Dead'

Arthur Machen, Ornaments in Jade

1897-1924 (collected 1924) / Ebook / 54 pages

****

The common thread of free-thinking misfits seeking occult pastoral solace makes this a nice little concept album, though that hardly distinguishes it from his others.

Faves: 'The Idealist,' 'The Ceremony,' 'Torture'

Christopher Blayre (Edward Heron-Allen), The Cheetah-Girl

1923 / Audiobook / 71 pages

**

Prescient genetic science fiction for the purposes of perving over a Thundercat.

Nicola Lombardi, The Gypsy Spiders and Other Tales of Italian Horror

2015-21 (collected 2021) / Audiobook / 276 pages

**

Blurred together too much to pick favourites.

Alrightgames: Battleship

Battleship

1931 / Pencil and paper game / 2 players

***

Hangman is still pen and paper king (or drawing tablet and stylus, get with it, grampa), but this might teach her grid references and deduction or something, plus it saves electricity. Impossible to play without lapsing into a William Sadler in Bill & Ted voice.

I explained it poorly the first time and she crammed each ship represented by multiple dots into single squares, no wonder they were elusive.

Alrightgames: Uno

Uno

1971 (modern edition) / Card game / 2-10 players

****

Bought years in advance, these cheap cards were used and abused for variably educational purposes until I finally convinced her to let us give the bland-looking game a try. Then she insisted on playing several dozen rounds until bedtime.

Fast and fun, especially when inevitably adding your own over-complications and foiling yourself, like her suggestion of alternating between saying "uno" or "one" each time it comes up, so you have to remember which one you said last time – inspired.

Alrightgames: Cluedo – Mrs White Goes Crazy (Fan Game)

Cluedo: Mrs White Goes Crazy (Fan Game)

Combat/survival board game / 2-6 players

**

The five-year-old suddenly became obsessed with Cluedo this week. Looking up home-brew variants to mix things up, Reddit user CoconutPete44's reminiscence of a survival horror perversion they played as a kid seemed too fun to resist, especially since my daughter had already taken a dislike to Mrs White. She's the Mr Mittens of people.

The rules sorted themselves out as we raced to stockpile variably useful weapons, and I threw in the unbalanced battle dice from Rhino Hero (all odds and all evens) to reward proactive bloodlust. Fun for all the family!

Alrightgames: Pokémon Snap

Pokémon Snap

1999 / Nintendo 64 game / 1 player

**

I remembered this being a limited but relaxing Pokémon game from when my brothers had it, and a nice alternative to the constant battles elsewhere. I didn't remember how useless the turn-of-the-century AI was at recognising Pokémon, making it an exercise in fruitless frustration, especially without an analogue stick.