Game Review: The Game of Meme

Ages: 14+
Playing Time: 30 min
# of players: 3-6 players

Meme (n.) /miːm/

1. An element of culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other-genetic means.

2. An image, video, piece of text, etc,; typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations.

Source: The Oxford Dictionary at OxfordDictionaries.com

It should come to surprise to no one that I spend a lot of time on the Internet. I spend 8 hours at work using the Internet and then come back home, eat dinner, spend time with my family, and then go back at it for another 2 hours to work on the website. That’s at a base minimum. 10 hours out of my 24 hours (41.67%) In that time, I’ve come across a fair number of memes. Heck, we even make memes on the odd occasion! They’re fun and light-hearted which makes me feel good when others like them.

Imagine my delight when a card game came out that allowed you to play to see who had the best memes! When my good friends pulled out this game, I was positively giddy with the thought of destroying them with my previous meme-generation experience.

The goal of the game is simple: make a meme that the judge will think is funny and relevant to the theme. Themes are decided upon by a random card deck in the middle of the table. These memes consist of two types of cards – an external frame with text and pictures sized to fit within the middle of the frame. By presenting these two together, you compete with other meme-generators to win over the judge and claim the theme card. The first to 5 cards wins!

The flow of the game is a little counter-intuitive for some players. The first part of the round includes a card management round where the player to the left of the judge picks up a picture card, chooses whether to pass it or another picture card on to the player to their left. The last player discards their picture card. The same is done with the frame cards in reverse (right to left). We started with this rule and with a vote of 2 to 1, it was changed.

I would recommend this game for a quick game or as an alternative to a light game of Cards Against Humanity. It’s better with fellow Net-ophiles since they are more likely to understand the pairing, but previous knowledge is not necessary.

For more information, ask your favourite gaming venue for The Game of Meme.

Game Review: Dice Masters

Age: 14+
Game Time: 30 to 60 min
Players: 2

Front of Age of Ultron Dice Masters starter set box

Dice Masters is a competitive game that is part card-collecting, part hand management, part deck building, and all fun!

The gist of the game is to take your opponent from 20 health to 0 by attacking with a variety of villians, heroes, and sidekicks. To bring a die into your bag, you must purchase it using energy. This same energy is used to bring the hero dice into the battlefield. Once drawn, these dice have powerful abilities that work within different teams and rolls. Add in the possibility for special action cards to be used and you have a game where strategy and risk management is paramount to bringing you to victory.

Mats like this D&D one are used in play to track turns. It looks confusing, but gets easier the more you play.

I was introduced to this game by a friend who was looking for people to play with and found that the community was dwindling. I was so surprised because this is an affordable game using a gamer’s best friend – dice. It even has so many flavours that I can’t imagine why more people aren’t getting into it! Below here are some of the flavours you can find:

• DC Comics
  • Batman
  • Green Arrow and the Flash
  • Justice League
  • Superman and Wonder Woman
  • War of Light
  • World’s Finest
• Dungeons and Dragons (D&D)
  • Tomb of Annihilation
  • Faerûn Under Siege
  • Battle for Faerûn
• Marvel DC
  • The Mighty Thor
  • X-Men First Class
  • Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Defenders
  • Iron Man and War Machine
  • Deadpool
  • Doctor Strange
  • Civil War
  • Amazing Spider-Man
  • Age of Ultron
  • Avengers vs. X-Men
  • Uncanny X-Men
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Heroes in a Half Shell
  • TMNT
• Yu-Gi-Oh!

I honestly wish I could collect the sets. They appeal to all my fandoms. Didn’t find one you like? Just wait a little bit. They are releasing new ones all the time. From what I can see on the WizKids website there is a Warhammer 40K one coming soon. Find one you like? You can probably find these in your gaming venue for a fantastic price.

What’s that? Not cool enough? Did I mention that it has organized play? The last Canadian National Championships were held in Gatineau, Quebec right outside Ottawa! The World Championships? This year at PAX Unplugged in Nov 2018. The prize? Apart from the bragging rights you also get a factory set of The Mighty Thor.

For more information on the WizKids network, check out: http://win.wizkids.com/wp/ or check in with your local gaming venue.

 

Board Game Central

 

Board Game Central

Jackson Square, 2 King St W, Hamilton, ON
Friendly Local Gaming Store (FLGS)
http://www.bgcentral.ca

Google Rating: 4.3 stars

Where2Game Rating: ♟♟♟♟

Cost to Play ♟♟♟♟♟ Accessibility ♟♟♟♟♟ Atmosphere ♟♟♟♟♟

Menu Cost Not Applicable Parking ♟♟♟_ _ Community ♟♟_ _ _

Bookable? No.

Board Game Central (BGC) has recently undergone some significant renovations after their move, but that hasn’t stopped them from providing a great gaming space and wonderful customer service.

The space itself is highly accessible but has limited playing space. With that said, BGC has a unique admission structure. The tables themselves are open to play, but require a $5 admission. That $5 gets applied to a store credit that you can use to purchase anything in the store. It’s a try then pay model that Hamilton seems to love! When I went in, the tables were fully of people playing board games.

The staff themselves are wonderfully helpful and go beyond to try and find the right games for you. Have questions or need a suggestion? The wonderful staff are there to help and provide you with legendary customer service.

As it happens, the store is a friendly, local gaming store and doesn’t have any snacks on hand to purchase. A variety of food and drinks can be found at the food court in Jackson Square just a couple minutes walk within the Square. Parking can be found either paid on the street, or within the parking underneath the Square.

With regards to community, it doesn’t seem that BGC provides an online community space for people to connect and go to game. This makes it harder to find partners to play with in the grand scheme of getting more people to connect through gaming.

 

Review: Risk (2016)

Risk is a classic board game that has been selling itself since 1957. When one of my friends asked if I wanted to play the game, I was excited and scared. While I love strategy games, I’m not strong with them and Risk is 100% strategy.

The gameplay was simple enough. The more territories you own, the more reinforcements you can pull each turn. All the while you gather Risk cards to turn in for additional reinforcements. More forces mean more forces for your enemy to defend against.

Combat is decided by matching pairs of dice highest to lowest. If the defender matches or has a higher roll than the attackers, than the attacker loses an infantry. If the attacker gets a higher roll than the defenders, the defender loses an infantry. When no defenders remain, the attacker takes over the territory.

The game can take a little bit longer with two players, but has plenty to do as the terrain changes.

For more information, please ask your local gaming venue!

 

Review: Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor

Players: 3 to 8
Estimated Game Time: 90 min to 2 hours
Recommend Ages: 10+

I love a good escape room. The only thing I like more is a great escape room. This game falls under the latter for the sheer quality they put into there games.

The story unfolds that you’re a caretaker for an astronomer’s mansion when he unexpectedly lets you and the cook go. You return with some concerned townsfolk to help you discover the mysterious sounds and smells coming from the mansion.

This game features a decoder ring style turn system that you use to open envelopes. These envelopes help you progress through the adventure. Each box comes with recommendations on background music, invitations, and the like so you can make a night of the adventure.

Out of the escape rooms that we have played so far, this comes the closest to being an escape room without having to pay admission to pay for one.