First Impression - The Thoughtful Gamer https://thethoughtfulgamer.com Board Game Reviews, Analysis, and Strategy Sun, 07 Aug 2022 22:44:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/cropped-TTGlogoWHITELETTERS-5-32x32.png First Impression - The Thoughtful Gamer https://thethoughtfulgamer.com 32 32 124167274 3 Impressions, 3 Questions: Small Railroad Empires https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2022/08/03/3-impressions-3-questions-small-railroad-empires/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2022/08/03/3-impressions-3-questions-small-railroad-empires/#respond Thu, 04 Aug 2022 04:17:58 +0000 https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=3851 Some thoughts after my first play of this small-ish box pick-up-and-deliver game.

The post 3 Impressions, 3 Questions: Small Railroad Empires appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2022/08/03/3-impressions-3-questions-small-railroad-empires/feed/ 0 3851 3 Impressions, 3 Questions: Union City Alliance https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/02/16/3-impressions-3-questions-union-city-alliance/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/02/16/3-impressions-3-questions-union-city-alliance/#respond Tue, 16 Feb 2021 18:22:02 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=2875 Orion and I got a sneak peek at Union City Alliance, a new cooperative superhero deckbuilding game now on Kickstarter. We give our initial thoughts and speculations on this impressive game after one play.

The post 3 Impressions, 3 Questions: Union City Alliance appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/02/16/3-impressions-3-questions-union-city-alliance/feed/ 0 2875 One Deck Dungeon First Impressions https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/11/06/one-deck-dungeon-first-impressions/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/11/06/one-deck-dungeon-first-impressions/#comments Thu, 07 Nov 2019 01:59:14 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=2375 If there’s a primary distinction between tabletop games and video games, besides the technology, it’s that video games usually try to obscure the inner workings of the game while board games almost necessarily leave them exposed. Sure, for many video games the competitive level involves lots of number crunching to develop strategies that give you …

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The post One Deck Dungeon First Impressions appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/11/06/one-deck-dungeon-first-impressions/feed/ 1 2375 Hierarchy First Impressions https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/10/08/hierarchy-first-impressions/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/10/08/hierarchy-first-impressions/#respond Wed, 09 Oct 2019 03:46:21 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=2155 Hierarchy is on Kickstarter through the 18th I was talking to a game designer the other day about microgames, and he commented that often finds that microgames would be improved by simply having more cards. Design constraints can be a wonderful tool for creativity but sometimes they just constrain. Hierarchy, the new game from Button …

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The post Hierarchy First Impressions appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/10/08/hierarchy-first-impressions/feed/ 0 2155 The Perfect Moment First Impression https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/11/10/the-perfect-moment-first-impression/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/11/10/the-perfect-moment-first-impression/#respond Sun, 11 Nov 2018 03:41:05 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=1721 This one’s up on Kickstarter for only a week longer! Anyone planning to design a microgame has a number of tough decisions ahead of them due to the inherent limitations of the style. How do you make a game that feels complete when only 18 cards are available to you? How do you fit in …

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The post The Perfect Moment First Impression appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/11/10/the-perfect-moment-first-impression/feed/ 0 1721 Fantasy Pug Quest (Very) First Impressions https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/10/17/fantasy-pug-quest-very-first-impressions/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/10/17/fantasy-pug-quest-very-first-impressions/#respond Wed, 17 Oct 2018 05:06:29 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=1650 Deep within the heart of the Terror Swamps, the noble adventurers plod through the muck, their…paws caked with mud. The heroes are pugs, okay? They’re out wandering places and fighting other dogs, but, like, in a cute fantasy way. They’ll face packs of Chihuahuas, giant bulldogs, and slimes. Of course there are slimes. But why …

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The post Fantasy Pug Quest (Very) First Impressions appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/10/17/fantasy-pug-quest-very-first-impressions/feed/ 0 1650 Burning Rome First Impression https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/08/01/burning-rome-first-impression/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/08/01/burning-rome-first-impression/#comments Wed, 01 Aug 2018 20:11:07 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=1564 Burning Rome is a game I’ve had a very difficult time contextualizing. It comes in this saturated blood-red box with the subtitle “Rome’s Nightmare”. The cards have attractive, but realistic depictions of Roman, Carthaginian, Celtic, and Gaelic soldiers on them. There are rules for creating your own decks, but there’s an entirely separate booklet included …

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The post Burning Rome First Impression appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/08/01/burning-rome-first-impression/feed/ 1 1564 Charterstone First Impression (1/3 Through Campaign) https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/07/10/charterstone-first-impression-1-3-through-campaign/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/07/10/charterstone-first-impression-1-3-through-campaign/#comments Wed, 11 Jul 2018 00:18:28 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=1518 Warning: Very light and mostly non-specific spoilers for the first 4 games of Charterstone. Lots of spoilers for stuff you’ll find out pretty quickly in game 1. If you know you’re sensitive to any and all spoiler material, you probably shouldn’t read this. The short history of legacy games is somewhat odd, to say the …

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The post Charterstone First Impression (1/3 Through Campaign) appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/07/10/charterstone-first-impression-1-3-through-campaign/feed/ 1 1518 Supertall First Impression https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/06/18/supertall-first-impression/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/06/18/supertall-first-impression/#respond Mon, 18 Jun 2018 21:47:26 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=1489 The Supertall Kickstarter is online until 6/30 Straight off their rousing success with Sprawlopolis, a genuinely great cooperative puzzle game, Button Shy is now kickstarting Supertall, a game of strategically building up skyscrapers and card manipulation. Like all of their games, it’s comprised out of a mere 18 cards and fits into a bi-fold wallet. …

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The post Supertall First Impression appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/06/18/supertall-first-impression/feed/ 0 1489 Exceed Fighting System First Impression https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/05/03/exceed-fighting-system-first-impression/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2018/05/03/exceed-fighting-system-first-impression/#respond Thu, 03 May 2018 18:42:20 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=1380 One summer in my childhood my friend and I got obsessed with Soul Calibur 2 for the Gamecube. It was my first true experience with a 2D (style) fighting game. I’d grown up playing PC games and didn’t go to arcades much, so I never got into the older classics of the genre. But Soul …

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