We are the Quarriors!!!

So recently I had the opportunity to play  Quarriors.

Quarriors is a fun little game, whose essential mechanic is deck-builindg, a mechanic best-utilized in the game Dominion. But unlike other deck-building games, Quarriors uses dice instead of cards. It's a fun little twist. Each turn, you draw six die from your dice pool and depending on your roles, you have different actions you can take: anything form summoning monsters, casting spells or purchasing additional die for your dice pool. As the game progresses, you have the option to purchase new and more powerful die for your dice pool, and each die manifests different abilites based on its roll. So each round factors in a lot, and I mean a LOT of randomness.

Unlike Dominion, the die's abilities vary greatly depending on what you roll, whereas cards provide a constant effect. So whereas a deck-building game with cards hasn't a certain amount of constancy, Quarriors relies heavily on chance for the momentum of the game. This has a HUGE impact on the pacing and balance of the game....in that there really isn't any.

Quarriors either speeds to an end or drags on for the entire night, often with one player dominating for a quick victory, or no player being able to seize an advantage and everyone becoming bogged down in a six-sided quagmire. All in all, it's a very novel concept, but a few rounds into the game you realize why no other games does this: because it's not a particularly good idea.

Quarriors is one of those games you can play once, and put on your shelf for a few months until you've forgotten what playing it was like.

Star Wars X-Wing: Miniatures Game

I recently had the opportunity to play the new Star Wars X-Wing minis game, and I have to say it is utterly fantastic!

Opening Salvos between Imperial and Rebel Forces

As always, I love anything that allows me to play with little space-ships, but this particular game added a level of structure that actually improved my normal child-like interest. The mechanics are extremely simple, with enough variation to keep it interesting by no means too complicated for people to get confused even after one or two or eight drinks. They handle the movement through space in a very novel and engaging way, that detaches miniatures combat from a game board or rulers, a feat rarely achieved at all and I would say never this well. The play-time is about half an hour, which is short enough to keep things well-paced and everyone engaged .


All in all, an excellent and easy game for almost any number of drunk people.

X-Wings Blast Apart a TIE Fighter

Commander positions his Squadron