Holidays over and back to normal until Christmas! Not a whole lot of gaming the last couple weeks with all the travelling and holidays with my grandparents - but I did manage a few games here and there..
Board Games Played This Week:
Klask - Spoiler alert to a new purchase for the week. I decided to play Klask! Is it even a board game? Most likely not.. It's more of a dexterity game, but one you'd find in a board game shop and it's a lot of fun! Four ways to score a point - get the ball in your opponents 'hole', get two of the three small magnets from the middle of the 'table' onto your opponents magnetic paddle, cause your opponent to lose magnetic control of their paddle and lastly my favorite - cause your opponent to 'Klask' by getting their paddle into their own goal. It's fast paced, a little like air hockey but pretty different as its all done with magnets as opposed to air. And the extra ways of scoring offer something fresh. As I said, its an activity not a board game, but if you like air hockey then I'd definitely suggest you give Klask a go!
Kingdomino - Purchased fairly recently, I finally got to see what all the fuss about this award winning game was all about. Is it amazing? No, not at all. It's just a simple accessible game that anyone can pick up and play easy. It all makes sense, the rules are easy to grasp, its bright and colourful and its a good puzzle of a game. With so many games garnering the library now, I can see myself playing Kingdomino more in the future mostly because of its pick up and play nature, where a game can be started without the need of re-reading the rules after a long absence from the table and the fact games are about 10 minutes long. I'm not blown away, I've enjoyed the few games I've played.
Codenames: Pictures - I enjoy the creative challenge of the original Codenames but haven't felt the need to venture into one of the now many options of ways to play. Undercover, Pictures, Duet & the soon to be released cash-ins like Disney etc are bringing this popular game to the masses, but while good for the more casual mainstream audience, those with cupboards that include a plethora of games I'm not convinced they warrant the space if you already have the original. That was my opinion going into a game of Pictures (played at a friends house), and after playing four rounds which I really enjoyed - I have the same opinion. It's good, but the original is the standard that all other twists are based on and its really all you need. Pictures in some ways introduced some creativity but it most ways I found it stifled things a little. It seemed easier to draw comparisons to link pictures based on shapes, sizes and similar types of objects in the pictures. Linking words in my opinion requires a greater effort but also offers a far more pleasing feeling of satisfaction as your team nails the exact abstract far left of field clue you gave them. If you don't have a version of Codenames - just get one. Pictures might be a little more accessible but I enjoy the challenge of the words more and don't see the need for both.
Board Games Purchased This Week:
Klask - Aside from having a pretty ordinary looking box, everything else about Klask is pretty cool. Really how else can you describe a smaller version of a game that's closely related to Air Hockey but has some fun and innovative ways to change the game with the use of magnets. Is their skill? Well I guess there has to be, with trick shots, defensive vs aggressive plays and all the usual other things that come into play when playing a game like air hockey - but mostly I think it's just good old fashioned mindless fun where occasionally things pay off for you but mostly its just random luck and hitting a ball around. Don't let that put you off though! I don't mean that as a negative as even when you lose you know you can play better and you'll be regretting silly errors you made like when you 'Klask' yourself! I'm extremely happy with this purchase and look forward to challenging different ones and definitely expect to get some good wear out of this brilliant activity/dexterity game!
