I usually try and pick up a new game or two at PAX and I grabbed some good ones at East.
Alchemy! This game is fantastic. You play as an apprentice alchemist trying to impress your master. There is a center play area with potion cards that each player is attempting to make. On your turn you will select a component card to “transmute”. This will grant you a couple elements (colored gems) that then get placed in your cauldron which is just a section on your player card. On your turn you can also “pour” which means you take a single element from your cauldron and place it in your “vial”. Once the contents of your vial match those required for a particular potion you can make it. You take the potion card, move all the elements from your vial to the card and place it in front of you. The winner of the game is the person at the end with the most elements on potion cards. Each little element is essentially a victory point.
The really interesting bit is that you can then drink your potions if you want. Taking a drink means removing one element from the card and then applying its effect. Potions let you attack other players, take extra turns, and tons of other stuff. Each time you take a swig though you are essentially removing one of your victory points. This makes for some really fun decisions as players say fuck it to victory points and start drinking all their shit just to mess with everyone else.
In addition to all that you also get a hand of cards that you can play on your turn. You can kick over other players cauldrons, make them spill their vials, and just generally be an asshole. The game is a blast and it’s great for kids too. I highly recommend this one if you like “screw your friends” games.
This is a simplified version of the normal Krosmaster game. It’s designed for kids 7 and up it says. Essentially it works as a stand alone tutorial that teaches you how to play the full version of the game bit by bit. It comes with four figures and each one has an adventure book that will guide you through the game. Each “adventure” takes between five and ten minutes and will teach you one or two key parts of the game. You start off just learning how movement works, then they add a little bit more with each adventure. The idea is that by the end of the adventure book you should be able to transition to the full game.
Just like the real thing, this version is beautiful and fun. If you have kids who are drawn in by the figures but are not quite ready for the complexity of Krosmaster this is a great way to get them started.
I also picked up Ori and the Blind Forest yesterday. I really think this game is something special. I don’t want to go into too much detail here because I’d rather you all just go experience it for yourselves. The visuals are stunning, the music is brilliant and it’s a damn good platform game. Just go get it.
Finally here are some high res, no text panels from yesterday’s strip. Thanks again to Steve Hamaker for his incredible colors on this project.
-Gabe out
