Trinity (Matt Wagner)

Batman is on the trail of a dangerous organization, bent on obtaining nuclear missiles and threatening the world. Normally a loner, he needs help, and Superman is on the scene. But there's another hero in the wings: Wonder Woman meets both these heroes and teams up to form a formidable force indeed- a trinity* not easily defeated.

Trinity is an origin story covering the first time Batman and Superman met Wonder Woman (and their initial collaboration). It's widely praised but I found it only okay. There was some good dialogue, and the art was decent, but the overall story and other aspects seemed rushed, formulaic, or unconvincing.

Rating: B-

*like the author, I use the word in its generic 'state of being three' sense and not with the religious connotation it often espouses.

Ghost Towns (Various)

 

Ghost Towns is a short story compilation from various writers of Western fiction (some of them famous, like Louis L'Amour). The focus, of course, is on stories based on or involving ghost towns- those towns that sprung up seemingly overnight (and could fall to ruin just as quickly) in the late nineteenth century due to railroads and gold mines in the American West. Here, you'll find tales of ghosts, murders, tragedies, and other sordid affairs.

The book was okay. As you'd expect with multiple authors, I liked some stories and writing styles more than others (though all were solidly written). And I was intrigued to learn that real ghost towns still exist and can be visited today. I picked this up for $2 on a clearance rack, and it whet my appetite for the genre, if nothing else (I expect to include a Western or two on my forthcoming American Reading List).

Rating: B

Marvel United

Today's review is of the 2020 release, Marvel United. For 1-4 players, it takes 30 minutes.

Overview

A supervillain is loose! It's up to you and your team (this is a cooperative game) to stop him by reducing his life points to zero. But before you can attack him directly, you must do two of the three:

- clear 4 threats (of 6 on the board)

- rescue 9 civilians

- defeat 9 thugs

Can you do these things, and defeat the villain, before it's too late?

Marvel United is a deck-based game. The villain (and each of the players) have decks of cards that determine actions. After setup (placing the villain's main card; laying out 6 locations, placing one threat and the shown number of civilians/thugs on each; placing the heroes and villain), turns proceed as follows:

- reveal the top card of the villain's deck and do what's stated (generally, moving the villain to a new location, placing thugs and/or civilians  in different locations, or doing other nefarious things)

- hero 1 draws the top card of their hero deck (their starting hand has 3 cards), chooses a card to play, places it on the timeline, and carries out the action[s] on the card in any order. Actions can damage thugs, rescue civilians, move the hero, or have other effects

- hero 2 follows suit, though they may carry out the action[s] on both their card and the one prior

- hero 3 does the same, using his and hero 2's actions

- the next card of the villain deck is revealed

- hero 4 takes their turn, using their and hero 3's actions

And so on. Turns continue with three hero turns for every villain turn until a certain point, where the villain gets to go after every two hero turns. Play continues until the villain is defeated OR the heroes lose by the villain satisfying a stated condition on their main card, or the heroes running out of cards to play.

game in progress; image from here

Review

This is a great game! My son got it for his birthday, and we've played it quite a bit. This main box has 3 villains and 6 heroes (and 8 locations), giving plenty of possibilities. It's quick to learn and fast to play. The challenge level is just right (neither to hard nor too easy; we win only about half of the time). There are meaningful choices, and cooperation is important. My only wish is that the distribution would be better- this game was on kickstarter with lots of expansions. You can now buy the base game in retail, but not the expansions- you'll pay a heavy price for those on ebay. With so many characters in the Marvel universe, it feels like this base game is just giving us a tease. If only the expansions were more readily available. That aside, check this one out. I'm not sure why it's rated 14+; my 9-year-old picked it up just fine, and my 6-year-old gets the gist, too.

Rating: A

Bosk

Today's review is of the 2019 release, Bosk. For 2-4 players, it takes 20-40 minutes.

Overview

Bosk is a game about trees and seasons.

- In the spring, you 'plant' your trees by placing them (in turn order) on grid intersections on the game board. Each tree has a number on it that denotes its point value. 

- In the summer, you score each row (and then column) by adding up the tree point values per player in each and assigning points accordingly.

- In the fall, your trees drop their leaves in accordance with wind direction (which changes) and cards that let you pick how many leaves you drop on a given turn. You can pay extra leaves to place your leaf on top of others.

- In the winter, you score each area by adding up the number of leaves per player in that area and assigning points accordingly.

game in progress; image from here

Review

Meh. This game is decently rated on boardgamegeek, and gets good marks from my go-to game reviewers. But I wasn't enthralled with it. It is simple and well made, but I found it hard to strategize with the leaf dropping in particular (the changing wind direction was an extra variable that made planning difficult). I might have to give this another go or two, but I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped.

Rating: B-

Homeland (R.A. Salvatore)

 

Drizzt Do'Urden is a drow- a dark elf living far below the surface in Menzoberranzan, a city in the Underdark. His family- like all others in that evil city- jockeys with other families for the favor of Lolth, the Spider Queen. But Drizzt is different . . . he can't stand the merciless rage and senseless hatred of his people. He's also gifted, and on course to be the finest warrior Menzoberranzan has ever produced. He'll need all his skill and more if he is to survive . . . does he have what it takes to live in his homeland?

I read this because Magic: the Gathering just released a set based on The Forgotten Realms novels (which themselves are one line of products from the Dungeons & Dragons RPG). I wanted some backstory to the characters in the set. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was an interesting approach: a book looking at a good character born into a world of evil, and the struggles he faces as a result. The first book of a trilogy (and with many other books in the series), this one doesn't have the closure I'd like, but it's fast-paced and satisfying. I may read the other two in the trilogy, and perhaps a few more.

Rating: A

Ötztal

 Rounding out our Austria trip, we spent the second main day in another valley- the Ötztal. It was very similar to the Pitztal, but one can never get enough of the Alps, so it was still wonderful and worthwhile. 

Our day started oddly- basically, we took the wrong cable car. It was nice but not where we wanted to be, with no easy way to hike to our desired location. Chalking it up to error, we rode the car back down the mountain and drove on to our preferred destination, then rode a second car up all the way to the summit. This latter location was used in filming the James Bond Spectre film, and one is reminded of that constantly by the numerous signs and exhibits referencing it. The kids built a cairn, we enjoyed the views, then rode down to the middle station for a break. Then it was back to the base, and out of the valley. Another great day.

Imster Bergbahnen

 As I mentioned yesterday, after our tour of the Pitztal, we headed north to Hoch Imst to ride the Imster Bergbahnen (an Alpine coaster), the longest such in the world at 3.5 kilometers long. We could have hiked to the coaster's start, but elected to take the ski lift instead, enjoying the views. Almost all pictures here were taken from that lift, as we couldn't take photos once we were on the coaster.