Rise & Fall is a full control strategic game. Each player controls a civilization trying to expand and progress in a fantasy world. This world displays a unique landscape where glaciers live on islands and huge cliffs are common barriers and challenges to overcome.

In this gorgeous land each player starts with a small tribe including a village, a citizen and a ship and will grow to a full civilization with more of the pre-mentioned units but also temples, merchants and the precious highlanders, the only ones able to pass those astonishing cliffs.

Rise & Fall is a very immersive and addictive game, easy to understand, with no luck or randomness involved. The initial creation of the world by itself is a real pleasure and each game brings a different map to the table.

The new players will enjoy the game for its “easy access” aspect. Since all the actions you can do are displayed on the six cards of a player’s deck, this makes the game really accessible right from the start.
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The more exigent strategist players will love the game for its full control aspect and the fact that the learning curve seems to be a constant line of progression.

Roleplaying. Storytelling. Enigmas. Combat. Stealth. Skills....Did I mention the Storytelling!!! All in the sandbox world of Malhya: Land Of Legends. Here are some rambling thoughts on a new game coming to Kickstarter

​Malhya: Land of Legends Kickstarter link - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/laboitedejeu/malhya-lands-of-legends #kickstarter #boardgame #MalhyaLandOfLegends ​

​Crime Zoom: The latest investigation card game from Stéphane Anquetil is being published by the small French company Aurora Games. And the game is brought to life with the illustrations of Cetteilart, Julien Long and Christopher Matt.

In the box, you’ll find 55 cards and the rules of the game. Yes that's it. Minimalistic says it all. The challenge is the size: to come up with an interesting investigation with very little materials. Note that already 15 of these cards will be used to illustrate the crime scene. Mission accomplished ?

For the record ... You play as an American investigative team in the 80’s. One evening, you are called to go to the scene of a crime which took place in a small apartment in Brooklyn. For once, you are early, and you arrive before everyone else. The door is locked from the inside. Once you enter, the entire crime scene is in front of you. The body is still there and nothing has been moved. This scene, represented by a series of cards placed end to end to form a large illustration, is the start of your  investigation. Now it's up to you to investigate ... to play.​

I admit that I was very skeptical about the game, expecting yet another “narrative” card game. But very quickly, we were caught in the plot and in the simplicity of the gameplay which leaves a lot of room for pleasure and immersion. Even if it can be played from 1 to 6 players, in my opinion it is really good for two. In addition, the concern for the readability of the whole may arise. Solo, it is fully playable, even if you inevitably lose the multiple opinion’s voiced by the other players.

Crime Zoom is a game you can enjoy. Do not hesitate to study, look carefully at each card to best resolve the investigation. Sometimes it will take you to other locations, represented by other cards. Places that will also have to be looked at carefully because the clues are sometimes in the details of the illustrations. Once again, these integrate perfectly and provide a significant plus. Hurrying too much will make you miss out on a very enjoyable fun experience. Finally, it’s just that. Crime Zoom: His Last Card is consumed as any good thriller or a good investigative film. The kind of work that gives you the flexibility to follow the investigation and allow you to have your suspicions throughout the story just upto the resolution, maybe with unexpected twists or its final real reveal.​

Bonjour and welcome to this beautiful city of Copenhagen. Capital of Denmark, this big city has its own charm. Among the treasures it shelters, you will have the opportunity, during your strolls, to notably discover The Little Mermaid of Eriksen. This emblem of the city sits proudly in the port ....

Sorry? What do you mean? Have you ever read that somewhere? But that's impossible, this is a new game. I would not dare to repeat the same sentences and repeat the test. You want me too? Checked ? If you insist. So Copenhagen ... Ah. Yes indeed. We’ll forget all this and start again?

Right now, one of the game mechanisms that is all the rage is roll & write (in other words, " throw dice and write results"). These are simple little games to learn, playable anywhere and generally everyone having a huge success with. Many publishers or designers therefore decide to adapt their great classics in this format. This transformation is often done most often for the worse ... but sometimes also for the better.

Copenhagen Roll & Write is therefore an adaptation of the Copenhagen game. I had the chance to play the latter and I gave you a review some time ago. You can find it here.

For this new version, released during Essen 2019, we find the same team behind. The duo of designers Asger Harding Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen immerse themselves in the charm of this Scandinavian city and called on Markus Erdt for the illustrations. The publisher in charge of this game is also the same: Queen Games. There is no denying that we are on familiar ground. And that's just the beginning.​

Indeed, after reading the rules, the game takes us back into this atmosphere. If you've played the board game, the version Roll & Write will be very familiar to you. We thus find our buildings, composed of columns, in order to create the façades as well as possible. The coats of arms are also there. The facade tiles will be used again to efficiently fill our buildings. But then it's the same game? Yes ... but above all no.

Roll & Write requires, the material of the board game gives way to paper and dice. Each player has an individual sheet. The large grid will represent the building (on the right) and new tracks corresponding to the colors of the facade tiles (on the left). Above each, there is its own score track. But that's not all. In the center of the table, you will have previously installed a Facade block. This block will simulate the façade tiles still available for purchase. Finally, exit these pages, making way for the dice. You have a nice set of five dice representing colors.

In Copenhagen Roll & Write, the goal of the game is to have the most points at the end. The game ends at the end of a round where a player has reached or exceeded twelve points. If you don't pay attention, it can quickly happen. It is important to keep this in mind. The game makes the racing side feel more strongly than its predecessor.

On their turn, the active player will roll the five dice. Depending on the result, they will be able to select one and only one facade tile to add it to their building. Of course to collect a tile, they must respect certain constraints.

But before talking about them, a little detour on the facade block. This is divided into two parts. The part on the left, under the infinite symbol, corresponds to the tiles which are always available. On the other hand, those on the right, under the extended X symbols, are for single use. First come, first served.​

So now is the time to tell you about this little novelty, the capacity tracks. The active player's turn at this time is over. But the others are not to be outdone. Among the remaining dice (therefore not used), and I insist on that, the other players can choose a dice and fill a box on one of their tracks according to its color. The tracks will allow you to unlock bonuses (the +) or capacities (the star) that can be used at any time. Bonuses are used to modify the results of the dice by increasing their number up to two (using up to two bonuses). Capabilities allow rules to be changed while they are in use. However, to achieve this, there must be dice to select ... If the active player uses everything, you can not check off  anything. And that's all.

This is how the explanation of this little game ends. I must not hide it, the two games are very very close. One can even wonder about the interest of having created this version. The rules are almost the same, the way to play remains similar, the operating logic could come closer. Copenhagen and Copenhagen Roll & Write are a bit like playful twins. And yet.

Despite these very close resemblances, Roll & Write manages to offer different sensations. Certainly, you lose the interest of touching the pieces of the board game but you win the chance to roll dice, the stronger possibility of controlling it with the abilities. Surprisingly, over the duration of the game, the two games are announced as being identical. In fact, Roll & Write seems less sluggish, less repetitive or even more pleasant to play.

Transportable everywhere, or almost, the game remains limited to four players (maybe because of the length or lack of tiles). It is fun to play it in all configurations, and this time you can even play it alone (even if you lose a lot of interest).

Why “transportable almost everywhere”? Isn't that the advantage of Roll & Write? Normally, this is actually one of their advantages. This is also the case here ... but the sheets of paper are large. This provides undeniable visibility and playing comfort. On the other hand, you lose on the side "we’ll play in a very small corner" and take it anywhere. Even if it is true that there is always a way to mitigate that, the game is less practical than other competitors.​

The second world war is one of the most discussed and used themes in any medium. Of course, in our playful passion is no exception. Infact, one of the first things that comes to mind when we bring up the subject, is the big wargames. You know, these games with lots of rules and pieces of cardboard as units. These games which make us relive the event for hours and which require a minimum of commitment. These games that ... oops sorry. Yes ... you know what I mean.

Our game creators are however very inventive on this theme. The mechanics used are quite varied from one game to another. If you take for example: Mémoire 44 , Blitzkrieg !: World War Two in 20 Minutes, V-Commandos, Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition or Hitler's Reich: WW2 in Europe, the five games talk about the same theme or rather the same context but their treatment is totally different. Finally, this period and this event in particular are sources of constant inspiration. I must admit, for our greatest pleasure.

The game we are going to talk about today takes you back to the heart of the Second World War. Frontier Wars is a Spanish Kickstarter game from the publisher Eclipse Editorial, in partnership with Draco Ideas. The author, Manuel Agustín Burrueco Pizarro, suggests that we head one of the four main belligerent nations.

But here, we are not fighting for control of a continent, we are not reliving the events of the Second World War. The scale chosen is much more limited and less historic. Frontier Wars is a zone control game on fictional maps that you have just constructed. You are free to create new "historic" missions or to build on what already existed. The basic idea is enticing: immerse yourself in an experience close to an RTS (such as Command & Conquer or Hearts of Iron). Attractive isn't it?​

First of all, you will have to choose from the four factions available: USSR, Germany, Great Britain and the United States of America. Each faction has its own troops (represented by figurines) and especially its own individual board. Each of them has two sides. Both sides offer you different starting resources and life points for your headquarters. To know that each faction has different initial resources and capacities. The game offers a little asymmetry between the factions.

Once the destiny of your nation is in hand, move on to the general installation. You will need to prepare the three decks of cards according to their types: attack orders, defense orders and tactical orders. Then you need to install the tray. You have the choice to take a predefined scenario (your choice in the booklet depending on the number of players) or create one by yourself. You’ll prepare by placing the starting troops and draw the cards provided ... that the battle begins.​

Regarding replayability, it is very important. In addition to the available scenarios, the possibility of creating random maps, the choice of boards A or B, drawing cards, adding mini rules to make the whole more complex (such as fog of war, special tiles, trenches ...), the ability to play as a team and the weather, the game also has two expansions: trucks and new armies. Trucks were mini extensions available during the kickstarter. Unfortunately, I only have the rules and not the components. So, I haven't tried it yet. As for the real expansion, it adds two new factions: the French and the Japanese; new maps and some variations. Unfortunately (again), I can't find a copy and haven't been able to play it yet (but if you know a way I'm interested and I will hasten to make a return and I do not speak to you not buildings and ...). The slight asymmetrical side at the start also allows a bit of renewal.

Component level, I was at the start a little puzzled about the choice of tiles. But once assembled, it gives the stamp of an old war map. This looks really good and justifies the scale of the figures compared to the rest. Matias Cazorla and Jaime González García, the two illustrators, did a very good job. It is regrettable, however, that the individual trays as well as those of scoring and battle are too thin (which makes them a bit fragile). Only downside, because the rest is really good. The iconography is clear and once in the game, you’ll have no questions. As for the figurines, this is classic Risk.

Frontier Wars behind a mechanism that may seem artificial, is in fact extremely thematic. Even if it does not offer the possibility of reliving the great moments of the second world war (at the same time so many games do it already). On the other hand, it plunges you into the hell of the countryside with a lot of pressure, joy, frustration and sadness. Luck is relatively rare, except in the drawing of cards. Despite this, the reversals of the situation exist and the advantage of a good card can quickly diminish the next time.​

​Every character gets a reroll of the dice. There is even a holding area where you can place some dice, if you like the results on them, while you roll the rest. Giving you the chance to get a more agreeable result or the chance to think a little longer on your options. This is very important as any capsule with a fault in it to be repaired, comes with some danger. Those dangers are “stasis” that lock dice up from being rerolled, “voids” that remove that die and “injuries” that remove a life point of the active crew. These are visible on the overview of the ship, so you can predict the dangers of trying to fix it. A value will be assigned to those dangers and by rolling that number, that’s what happens to that dice. It locks, it vanishes or tries to kill you, giving you another level of problem solving to get around and there are ways of getting around these hazardous events. Do you send the character who rolls the most dice but has the least life points into a 18 problem, with a great chance of getting injured? Or do you send someone else? Having one crew member solve one problem is fantastic, but when it needs several to resolve it…​

​Now, this all sounds very difficult. Believe me...it is. This game is tough, even in easy mode. Although, help is on hand, in the form of “research projects.” Yes, another section to deviate your dice into is this section, that requires one of every value of your six sided dice (I should have mentioned if before, there are no d20’s here.) Three random special actions will be displayed here, each with its own dice requirements. You may be able to collect 2 foods by spending three dice in your research section. Even add hull repairs, diminish damage or add assist that stop dice going into the void, deal damage or freeze. One used, the power is replaced with another. You can even burn a dice to replace all three powers with new ones, if you deem them too expensive or not practical. There is a lot of choice here and this section should never be forgotten as it could mean a lot to surviving the game. It’s also useful as on some turns you may find that you have nowhere to place your dice, or may not feel that placing a “1” in repairs is adequate. That’s a great thing, that there is always something to invest your dice into….most of the time.​

​Now this is not a board game, but could quite easily be. The mechanisms are all there, there would just have to be some refinement in the decks of cards that generate the events. This would lend itself to creating the various difficulty levels in the video game. Plus the video game has some other story like challenge modes. Not just an easy, medium and hard, but a mission, so to speak. Survive with just one crew member. Or keeping fires under control and make it through three weeks. There are also other characters to unlock with their own special abilities. All this adds longevity to a quite tough game, so you have these new challenges right from the get go. ​You can also plan ahead, as the distance bar from your target, at the top, tells you the severity of the next incoming problems. Green, yellow and red. I guess you can guess which is which! Sometimes it’s one or two, and other times...more. And they are random from game to game, much like the characters states and positions.

Wooden cubes have been in games since the very early days of the modern age of board gaming. They were used to represent troops, workers, resources and even viruses, plus possibly many other things. And as time has gone by, they have been replaced by more complex shapes such as the meeples, different shapes or miniatures. It's been kind of sad that they have been phased out, as we gamers have become more accustomed to having our components look like the object they are supposed to represent instead of having this abstractness. But the cube is not dead and gone, as it is still a cheap alternative for new publishers to get their games onto store shelves. Unless they're going through Kickstarter. ​

​The game is basically, everyone is being dealt the same hand of cards. But it depends on what you do with them, that determines how well you score. Think multiplayer Tetris. All players have the same blocks that fall. Some players will complete line after line, gaining minimal points, where others will stack them up in hope of squeezing in that long thin shaped one. Boom. Big points. This is something you may see in Roll & Write games or if you have ever been to a convention, you would have seen the “Pandemic Survival.” Everyone's town will start relatively the same, but as rounds go by, they develop into their own thing. And this is the aspect of the game that I adore. It is a real challenge against the other players. You all have the same level playing field (if you play without the unique buildings). It is interesting to see how your town starts going in a direction that is different to your neighbours. And you will need to keep an eye on them too. To try to predict what resource you think they need and will call out, then you will be prepared to slot it in an advantageous space or start building another building to what you had planned. ​