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Jordan Knows Games reviews Rum & Bones

12/28/2015

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Published by Cool Mini or Not
Designed by Michael Shinall
# of players: 2 (3-6 variants)
Ages 14 and up
Playtime: 1 hour


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       Rum & Bones is a miniatures board game where 2 to 6 players control pirate crews engaged in fierce combat. Inspired by MOBA style video games, the game pits two pirate factions against each other. With their ships locked in combat, the crew and heroes attempt to board the enemy ship to disable it.

     The ships’ crews are made up of single-minded constantly replenishing mobs that charge headlong across the gangplanks to attack key features on the enemy ships. To turn the tide of battle, players must use their Heroes and their unique abilities.  


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Components
     Cool Mini or Not (CMoN)is very reliable when it comes to components. The plastic figures are very detailed and a little delicate because of it. Aside from that, the board, cards and tiles are sturdy.

     CMoN has gone “all in” creating a full back story and lore. Although no one will likely read it, this probably is to help justify all the expansion sets. I'm not complaining. The artwork is great, pirate-y and zombie-ish. They made sure to keep the theme front and center. The instruction book is good. There is a lot of ground to cover and they do a good job.

     This is another good-luck-getting-it-all-back-in-the-box games. On top of that, there is all the expansion sets that add characters. So acquiring some additional storage on your own may be necessary or your a magician that can make it all fit.

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 Gameplay
     This game kind of hangs its hat on the fact that it is meant to be similar to a style of video game called MOBAs. For those of you who don't know what that means, its not really that important. For those of you who do, you probably have a burning question on your mind. Let me answer it: Yes, Rum and Bones is just like League of Legends. Just. Like. It.

     Lets get into what that means. The two ships are parked next to each other with 3 gangplanks joining them. On each ship there are 3 spawn points from which a never-ending supply of mindless minions charge across to the other ship and are in perpetual battle with the minions from the other ship. All attacking is based off of dice rolling.

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      The only unique characters are the ones that the players control. At the beginning of the game, each side selects 3 of such heroes. Heroes never die. They are only knocked out of action for a time and respawn. They are much stronger than the minions and have special attacks and abilities specific to that hero alone. The overall idea of the game is that the heroes turn the tide of the battle. There are various key points on the enemy's ship that, if you can reach them and destroy them, will give your side a permanent advantage, or incur a lasting penalty on the enemy.


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      A couple of very strong monsters can appear that are not affiliated with either side. The Kraken and the Sea Dragon indiscriminately launch punishing attacks on any who come near. If you can destroy them, you will be well rewarded. In fact, the game cannot continue when the Kraken is out as he is parked between the 2 ships. And yes, they can even end up attacking each other. Another fun objective is trying to destroy your enemy's cannon. Each side has a deck mounted cannon that they can actually fire on any square they want, even a sea monster.

     The game ends when 3 objectives have been destroyed (the monsters count) As mentioned, downing objectives tends to give you a permanent advantage. So, there can be a little bit of a snowball effect. If your enemy has knocked out 2 and you have only gotten 1 or none at all, it is unlikely you will be able to turn things around, but it is possible.

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       We haven't gotten into the specifics of many of the rules and I do not think we need to. While the rules seem complicated at first, it all starts to make sense pretty quickly in the larger context of the game. Although the game is marketed as 2-6 players, it is inherently a “Team A vs Team B” game and best as a 1 on 1. If you are going to play with more, you need an even number.

    Rum and Bones is a more “old school” game in the sense that, sometimes, even if you employ a good strategy, a bad roll of the dice or draw of the cards can ruin you. Losing like that tends to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Of course, taking a risk and having it pay off certainly feels good.


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Final Thoughts (Tl:DR)

   Rum and Bones is a  lovechild of a tabletop miniatures game and League of Legends. It is not really that tough to learn to play, for gamers anyways. Obviously, this is not a casual or party game. The game is basically a duel and, although its possible to play with more,  team play isn't really the focus of the game.

     You don't tend to have close finishes. With each success, you get stronger and this encourages a “snowball” effect. Still, Rums and Bones is pretty fun to play. (Especially if you drink rum while playing it!) With the expansion sets, you will have a lot of pretty unique characters to choose from. The theme, artwork and lore all add to the fun. I recommend Rum and Bones and look forward to the expansions and future game plays.  (Taco Editor note: he is just upset I keep beating him)


Jordan gives Rum & Bones a rating of...
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8 out of 10


Pros:
+ Feels like a classic board game or MOBA style video game
+ Plays in about an hour
+ Expansion heroes add to freshness of the game
+ Pirate Theme
+ Dice and Abilities are balanced

Cons:
- High cost if you decide to get all the extras
- One side can snowball to victory
- Hard to find/expensive kickstarter exclusives
- Need Expansions if you want variety

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Jordan Knows Games reviews Three Cheers for Master

12/7/2015

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 Published by Atlas Games
Designed by Daniel Windfeld Schmidt
# of players 2 – 6

Ages 13 and up

20 to 40 minutes
English First Edition (Taco's copy)


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       The Master has been blue lately. It's just not the same now that all lands known to evil have been conquered — and when Master's blue, it's the minions who suffer. As a lieutenant in Master's army  it falls to you to cheer him up. What better way to cheer Master up than a cheerleading competition? Whoever builds the most impressive tower of war-hungry minions will surely win Master's heart, if you can keep the monsters under control...


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Components
    
As we have come to expect from reputable publishers, the cards are of very good quality and should last a long time. Three Cheers for Master is primarily a card game so having durable cards is very important. The box holds everything nicely and is very compact. This allows the game to be easily stored and to travel with. The artwork is fun. Clearly, a lot of work went into clever, entertaining characters and complete with cute popular fantasy references. The instruction book is small but dense and, honestly, a little irritating. Its often hard to figure where the answer to your question is. But that probably has more to do with the gameplay, which we will get to later.


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 Gameplay
Hey look, it's later!

     In theory, the gameplay is simple. You draw cards which are either “minion” cards or “action” cards. You use the minion cards to build a tower. You must try to place your minions in such a way as to have your tower not explode in violence. This tends to happen because the minions have troublesome and unique traits that cause them to attack, eat, crush, etc each other.

      You play action cards to make minions shift position or attack. Minion cards and action cards can be played on any players tower. So you can use them to bolster your tower or mess up others. As you move through the draw pile, you get nearer to the end of the game. That is when the “Master is Here” card comes up. In the meantime, “Big Hairy Fight” cards come up randomly causing all players minions to attempt to fight. Depending on how you tower is constructed, it could be unaffected, damaged or destroyed.  So towers are constantly building up and tumbling down.

        You score points at the moment the game ends based on how tall your tower is and how many minions are in it. Pretty simple, right? Well, in the words of one of my test subjects; “This game sure is complicated for how simple its supposed to be.”
This is because there are many additional rules I have not mentioned, yet. The unique minion traits I mentioned earlier add a twist to the game. They also bog it down as you work out who is going to crush who before getting eaten, or whatever. There is also the placement of the “Foreminion”. (Its a little token that you have climb up the tower to give you scoring bonuses.) There are a few other little rules, as well, that are not worth mentioning.

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Final Thoughts aka TL:DR
      Glancing at Three Cheers for Master, it's fairly clear what is being expected; A fun game for almost everyone that wont take long to play, learn or teach. Three Cheers for Master doesn't quite deliver on that expectation.

     Even an experienced gamer will find that they are constantly checking the rule book. A more casual gamer will likely feel lost. In theory, the game is fun because of the unpredictable explosions of violence and mayhem. What you get are rather predictable scuffles that leave you feeling a tad disappointed. The art and pop culture references are enjoyable and enhance what could be a bland looking game.

    Games do play out fairly briskly, once you eventually get a handle on the rules. It also starts to get a little fun around that time. But that's kind of the problem. It wasn't hardly any fun before then, and now it is too little, too late.

Jordan gives Three Cheers for Master a score of...
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5 out of 10

Pros:
+ Compact
+ Inexpensive
+ Art and pop culture references

Cons:
- Rules are confusing at times
- Always having to reference the rule book
- Difficult for new players

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    Jordan enjoys a wide variety of games, especially those that allow him to drink and have fun with friends.

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