Full disclosure: I love dragons. They are powerful, animalistic, masters of their element. They come in so many flavours and lores! It’s one of the reasons I was excited to be a Dungeon Master. I could be a dragon! Tsuro gives you a chance to be a dragon AND a sailor trying to brave the blustery seas avoiding said dragons.
While this game revolves around strategy, there is also a luck component that you need to incorporate that was not present in its predecessor: Tsuro. The dragons (daikaiju) activate whenever a roll of 6, 7, 8 on two six-sided dice and perform. These are very common rolls, so there’s plenty of dragon dodging. After the dragons activate, you play a wake tile to move your wake riding sailor (I call mine Link) along to the edge.
Easy to learn, and easy to love. I highly recommend this game. I could easily have played this all day!
One of the first ghosts I saw in my formative years was the green ghost from Ghostbusters known as Slimer. He was was the right mixture of paranormal, humour, and horror. With his destruction of the Sedgewick Hotel, Slimer would fit right into the game of The Phantom Society by Funforge. This strategy-deduction game is best with four players: two control a pair of ghosts and the other two are daring ghost hunters set to rid the distillery of its unwanted guests.
Players take turns destroying rooms: the ghosts aim to throw off the ghost hunters by destroying rooms worth a monetary value measured in Great Britain Pounds (£). The monster hunters use logic and teamwork to destroy the rooms the ghosts haunt. If they destroy a room that the ghost isn’t in, then they’ve inadvertently helped the ghosts in destroying the home. The game is over once the ghost hunters have rid the house of ghosts or the ghosts rack up £45,000 in damages.
This game is very easy to learn and set up. I would highly recommend it for children and adults of all ages because it incorporates not only strategy during setup, but also a bit of social deception while playing.
Players: 2-8
Time: 30 min
Recommend Ages: 10 to Adult
One of my favourite things in life is getting together with family and playing word games. I’ve always loved learning new words and finding new ways to use them. Enter in Unspeakable Words – an adaptation of Scrabble using cards with delightfully cartoonish Lovecraftian entities.
The premise is simple. Get to 100 points and don’t let the Elder gods drive you insane in the process. You have 5 totems to Cthulu that protect your brain from the incomprehensibility of rival Elder gods. When you make a word from the seven letters in your hand, you must roll a twenty-sided die (d20) and roll equal to or higher than your score. Scoring is determined by how many angles are on each letter and is denoted in the corner of the card for easy reference.
My favourite part of the game? When you have one totem remaining, the threads of your sanity are loose enough that you can play any combination of letters to make a word. As the rules imply, madness can make you believe anything is a word.
The glow-in-the-dark tokens and die, and the love of words would make this a must-buy for me. Can’t wait to play this with the family at our next function!
Check out your local gaming store for availability.
Entrance to Gameopolis including their seasonal patio
Rating ♟♟♟
Rating Breakdown
Cost to Play ♟♟♟♟♟ Accessibility ♟_ _ _ _ Atmosphere ♟♟♟♟_
Menu Cost ♟♟♟♟_ Parking ♟♟♟_ _ Community ♟♟♟_ _
Reservations taken? Bookable by phone or by email
Claim to Fame
Opening up their space in 2013, they were Hamilton’s first board game cafe and know their business and customers well.
Review
A look at their bump-out patio
The aesthetic is simple, modern, and works for the space. The cost of admission is reasonable at $5 for unlimited play. It’s great for lazy days and statutory holidays where nothing else is open (even some other board game cafes).
Nestled in the heart of downtown Hamilton at King & Ferguson, this charming location has parking available on the street with paid parking nearby.
It has earned repeat visits by providing great tasting food and drink along with wonderful customer service. On our most recent visit, we ordered their soft, salted pretzels which are too good not to share. The cinnamon popcorn is a low calorie treat that was refreshing without being heavy, and the hummus with pita slices was tastefully prepared to delight the senses. I’m usually a picky eater, but I have loved everything they have brought out.
They have a strong selection of well-kept games that line the cafe’s wall. There are so many games that my partner and I almost suffered from choice paralysis! There are well-known classics like Risk, Boggle, and several flavours of Catan, as well as new, fun games to whet your sense of adventure.
I would not be surprised if someone told me there were 1000+ games in here.
My one concern for Gameopolis is the difficulty that customers with accessibility issues would have visiting the café. Neither the bathroom nor the front door have accessibility buttons which can make it hard just to get into the front door let alone stay longer. I would love to give this amazing lounge a higher score, but this is something that would need to change.
The community spirit is well and alive in Gameopolis. They have social nights for all members of the community including LGBT nights. With that said, they do not host Magic or Dungeons and Dragon’s (D&D) Adventurer’s League. This allows plenty of space to come and enjoy their board games, but you won’t find them on the Wizards of the Coast website. They also aim to bring people together with a forum on their website – but it is not truly in use for the last 3 months and contains only two posts making it easier to find the post you’re looking for.
Would highly recommend this lounge and look forward to seeing them grow and develop.
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