Monopoly Gamer

Today's review is of the 2017 release, Monopoly Gamer.  For 2-4 players, it takes 45 minutes.

Overview
It's Monopoly like you've never seen it before- in Mario's world!  In Monopoly Gamer, you choose a character from the classic NES game (each has a special power) and take turns rolling dice to travel around the board.  Like Monopoly, the goal is to acquire wealth by buying properties and charging rent to those unlucky enough to land on them.  Unlike Monopoly,
- only one die dictates movement- the other has symbols with specific functions (like earning coins, stealing coins or forcing others to drop coins where they are on the board).
- warp spaces help players zoom around (and as you move through spaces, you pick up any coins dropped on the board).
- characters activate their special ability when they land on star spaces.
- when you pass go, you turn over a boss card and can pay to fight the boss.  If you win, you get that boss card and its associated points.

The game ends after all 8 bosses have been encountered.  Each person counts up their points (from properties, coins, and defeated bosses); highest total wins!

the game board and components; image from here

Review
Classic Monopoly is a game I dislike, mostly because it takes far too long (and can be hard for those who fall behind to come back).  Gamer, on the other hand, is simpler, moves much more quickly, and has more interaction.  You'll constantly earn (or lose) coins, and nobody's ever out of it.  I liked the predetermined end condition, too- it makes much more sense than waiting until one person runs all others off the board.  On the downside, only 50% of the spaces are properties that can be purchased, making it possible to travel around the board without having the option to buy something.  There's also a heavy luck component with the dice.  Overall, though, this is a fun experience- one I prefer to the classic offering.  My kids love it, too.

Rating: B+

Black Panther

Wakanda, a hidden African kingdom with advanced technology, is forced to confront its isolationist policies when some of its valuable vibranium is stolen.  As the young king (T'Challa/Black Panther) pursues the thief, a past wrong manifests itself and throws the kingdom- and the throne- into tumult.  Should the nation used its advance tech to hide, help, or dominate the world?

The latest offering in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Panther is widely lauded.  And there's a lot of good here- acting, visuals, and effects are top-notch.  There's also a strong African motif and commentary regarding race and the horrors subjected on the continent and its people; a refreshing change for the genre, and a topic well worth discussion.  That said, I was left somewhat unsatisfied.  Some plot progression was rushed or implausible (even for the genre), but the real let-down was resolving the movie's main question: what should Wakanda do?  Should they use their advanced society to continue living in isolation, help the world, or avenge past wrongs?  The extremes are rejected but they don't sufficiently answer the question- specifically, how reconciliation should occur between the oppressed and oppressors, especially when the tables turn.  Perhaps my focus is wrong- maybe the film is intended to focus more on the king as he grapples with past familial injustices.  But the larger question is present throughout and warranted more treatment.  Overall, though, I recommend this film.

Rating: A-

The Call of Cthulhu (H.P. Lovecraft)

Mysterious deaths.  Strange tales.  Cults in fear.  People temporarily driven mad.  Going through his deceased uncle's papers, Francis Thurston stumbles across a strange object and mystifying accounts of an ancient horror that may explain it all: Cthulhu sleeps under the waves . . . and some seek to awaken him. 

The Call of Cthulhu is a short story by H.P. Lovecraft.  It's an American horror classic, and rightfully so.  I enjoyed the tale and experienced "a profound sense of dread, and of contact with unknown spheres and powers" that Lovecraft argued should be present in all so-call 'weird tales.'  He also said that stories in this mold must contain "a hint . . . [of] a malign and particular suspension or defeat of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguard against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space . . ."  We see that here. 

Lovecraft wrote many stories, mostly appearing in pulp fiction magazines.  In her biography of the author, Charlotte Montague states that scholars name eight Lovecraft tales as the 'great texts':
The Call of Cthulhu
The Color Out of Space
The Dunwich Horror
The Whisperer in Darkness
At the Mountains of Madness
The Dreams in the Witch House
The Shadow over Innsmouth
The Shadow Out of Time

I'll have to check a few more of these out.

Rating: A

Tales from the Thousand and One Nights (Various)

Tales from the Thousand and One Nights is a selection of stories (about 40) from what we in the West know as The Arabian Nights, a collection of folk tales of Arabian, Persian, and Indian origin dating from over 1100 years ago.  It is "the best known and most widely read book of Arabic authorship," and the stories "in their minute accuracy of detail and the vast range and variety of their subject-matter . . . constitute the most comprehensive and intimate record of medieval Islam."  Here we have the stories of Aladdin, Sindbad the Sailor, Khalifah the Fisherman, Judar and His Brothers, Ma'aruf the Cobbler, and many others. The stories are told in a 'story within story' framework- a style that The Canterbury Tales and The Decameron would copy much later.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  Ancient classics are not always enjoyable/easy to read . . . but these tales are good stories, highly entertaining and full of adventure.  A frequent theme is the supernatural- jinnees residing in rings, lamps, and ruins, and often aiding men to acquire great wealth and respect overnight- literally.  And beware: there's a bawdry or crude aspect to some (one title: "A Historic Fart" . . . need I say more).  Overall, this is a pleasnt read.

Rating: A

Hail, Caesar!

Hail, Caesar! is a 2016 Coen Brothers film, set in golden-age Hollywood (ca. 1950).  This comedy follows a studio "fixer," Eddie Mannix, as he works to cover up or fix the problems of several studio stars, all as he mulls a lucrative job offer in a different industry and wrestles with his own sins.  The abduction of one star takes center stage as Mannix tries to get him back before gossip columnists catch wind, and we get to see several classic genres of film in production (a biblical epic, water dancing movie, formal drama, and musical number) along the way. 

I have mixed feelings about this film, in part because I'm not sure what it's trying to be.  It's part screwball comedy, nostalgic memoir, mystery, social commentary, and analysis on faith and what drives us.  It left me thinking, which is a good thing, but I'm not sure it provided any answers.  Ultimately, I enjoyed the film, though it won't see frequent play in my home.  I enjoyed the glimpse back on the Hollywood of 70 years ago, the good production, and the offbeat humor.  Perhaps the critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes says it best:

Packed with period detail and perfectly cast, Hail, Caesar! finds the Coen brothers delivering an agreeably lightweight love letter to post-war Hollywood.

Rating: B

Stellar Conflict

Today's review is of the 2015 release, Stellar Conflict.  For 2-4 players, it takes 10 minutes.

Overview
You control a space fleet, set on conquering your corner of the galaxy.  Command your chosen ships and place them wisely, orienting them so their weapons fire on foes.  Will you prevail?

You need a large tabletop surface for this one.  First, you decide on the scale of the conflict (the total credit value of each fleet).  Once decided, each player prepares by secretly selecting ships from their pile of ship cards until they have a fleet with total cost less than or equal to the credit total.  Once done, their deck is shuffled (with predetermined ships placed on top and bottom).  Ship choices for one fleet are below.

ship's cost is the smaller number in upper right; image from here

Players then deploy their ships simultaneously, and they have to do it fast (deploying everything in 30-120 seconds, depending on the size of the conflict chosen).  To deploy, both players draw the top card of their deck and play it anywhere on the table, pointing in any direction (but it can't touch or overlap another card).  Once the first ship is placed, players keep going until their decks are empty or the timer goes off.

After deployment, battle commences.  Here, ships fire their lasers based on their initiative number (bigger number in upper left), highest number shooting first.  Players use the included rubber bands to extend all laser lines coming off of ships to determine if their ships have hit anything (if a laser hits your own ship, you must take the damage).  Purple lasers to 1 damage, red 2, green 3.  If a ship's damage exceeds its hull value (smaller number, upper left), it is destroyed and it goes into the opponent's victory pile, where they gain victory points (larger number in upper right) based on the ship.

battle in progress; image from here

After battle, victory points are tallied; highest wins!

Review
This is okay.  Some interesting concepts, but the "must fire all lasers" rule bothers me, and the real-time component frustrates (I guess I'm a turn-based-only type in competitive games).  Some people are high on this one, and I can see why . . . but I'll stick to other titles.

Rating: C+

Dungeon Rush

Today's review is of the 2016* release, Dungeon Rush.  For 3-5 players, it takes 12 minutes.

Overview
In Dungeon Rush, players sends two heroes apiece into a perilous chamber, where they'll battle monsters of varying strengths.  Monsters, if defeated, grant heroes extra abilities (necessary to face other monsters and the final bosses) and occasionally loot.  The player with the most loot at the end wins!

To start, all ten heroes are placed in the center of the table.  In draft order, each player chooses one; in reverse order, each player chooses a second.  Each player then places the two heroes side-by-side in front of themselves.  Each hero has one or more abilities in melee, ranged, magic, or stealth attacks, as denoted by symbols on all four edges of the card.  Two final bosses (a dungeon lord and dragon) are chosen and placed to the side.  Three decks, labeled I-III, are shuffled separately.

the hero cards, monster decks, and final bosses; image from here

The game is played over nine rounds.  In a round, each player is dealt two monster cards and reveals them to all, placing them in the center of the table simultaneously.  Then- and this is the crux of the game- each player, at the same time and as quickly as possible, claims two monsters for their heroes to fight by placing their right and left hands on one apiece.  The monster chosen with their right hand must fight the hero on the player's right; the monster chosen with the left hand must fight the hero on the player's left.  Each monster has a series of symbols on it, which a hero must have to conquer it.  If they do, they gain a symbol at the bottom of the monster card, and place that card under their hero with the symbol oriented appropriately.  Thus, as play progresses, their heroes gain abilities.  Deck I is used for rounds 1-3; Deck II for 4-6, Deck III for 7-9.  Then the final bosses are confronted- and all players can attack them (each gaining loot if victorious).  The player with the most loot wins!

monster examples, from here.  Beating the goblin shaman requires one ranged and one magic ability; success gives the hero one magic ability (the symbol at card bottom) and 3 loot

Review
The game has some interesting ideas, but I really didn't like the "think fast" component.  The obvious goal is to pick the monsters your heroes can overtake (and, ideally, give your heroes further abilities for later fights), but you don't have time to think, because your opponents might claim the ones you need first.  The right hand/left hand is interesting but also stressful, meaning you have to keep track of stats for both heroes, the choose quickly for both, and use the correct hands to do so.  This isn't intended to be a long, deep game, but other fast dungeon crawls are more fun and less stressful (like this one).

Rating: C

*it was released in Europe in 2016; an American release is scheduled for this year