Port Royal (Big Box)

Today's review is of the 2022 release, Port Royal (Big Box). For 1-5 players, it takes 20-50 minutes.

Overview

This push-your-luck game is simple and fun; I reviewed the base game of Port Royal in 2017 (review here). This edition has new art (which is outstandng) and includes the base game plus subsequently-released expansions and the 'gambler' promo card. The expansions:

- Make Sail!: A simpler variant for new players; however, a subset of cards from this set can be included with the base game to expand options.

- Just One More Contract: this expansion adds to the base game with more cards for the main deck and a new card type: the oversized contract cards.

- The Adventure Begins: this expansion adds a multi-session story element to the game.

the expansions summarized

Review

I really enjoyed Port Royal and missed out on the expansions, so when I saw this tidy package at the game store, with new art to boot, I couldn't resist. I'm glad I picked it up. I like the new art and expanded options that come with the included variants. It is simple to pick up, fast the play, and enjoyable.

Rating: A

The Wild Robot

Roz, a robot washed ashore in a storm, seeks customers and tasks to complete. On this deserted island, though, the animals only flee in fear. Undeterred, she learns and seeks purpose, and gets it one day by accident. But now needing to raise the gosling Brightbill, Roz realizes she is completely unequipped to do so. Slowly, with many mistakes along the way, she (and the animals on the island) will learn more about what it means to love . . . even through hurt and loneliness.

Like the book, this movie is outstanding. The animation was beautiful, music powerful, and (most) messages solid and poignant. (I didn't cry. not once. not even a little.) It's a wonderful reflection on parenting, inadequacy, self-sacrifice, friendship, and love. Highly recommended.

Rating: A

Ahoy

Today's review is of the 2022 release, Ahoy. For 2-4 players, it takes 45-75 minutes.

Overview

Vie for fame on the high seas! In this asymmetric game, your goal is to gather fame through either area control (if you're the Bluefin Squadron or Mollusk Union) or pickup and deliver (if you are one of the smuggler factions). 

game in progress; image from here

After setup, the first round begins. Players take various actions (some involving dice, some not) on their turns. Each player, in clockwise order from the first player, takes two actions involving dice placement (plus any other actions they can/choose). Die are placed on each player's unique board, giving them abilities to sail (move around the map), place resources, load their cannons, and more! Moving around the map can trigger other things, including

- exploring (revealing and placing new tiles when you move off the known map)

- battling (when your ship lands in a tile with an enemy ship)

You may also recruit crew, repair your ship, and other things.

Players take turns until nobody has remaining die to activate. At the end of each round, fame is tallied (through area control or other means, depending on your faction). If one player exceeds 30 fame, the game is over, and the highest total wins! 

The Good Time Society has a nice game overview video.

Review

This is from the makers of Root, and is essentially a simplified version of that asymmetric experience. It was . . . decent. Clearly a lot of board game expertise went into the design of this. That said, I wasn't a huge fan. I am realizing that asymmetric games, even simple ones, aren't my favorite. They require a degree of mental energy to learn both your and others' factions well—the differing actions and strategies—and I'm not willing to expend that much time on something I won't play often. It's not bad, but I suspect there are more fun pirate-themed games out there.

Rating: B

Middle Ages

Today's review is of the 2024 release, Middle Ages. For 2-5 players, it takes 30 minutes.

Overview

You are in charge of a fiefdom. You will build in various areas to make sure your land is both as strong and well-rounded as possible (you will add one tile per round across 8 types of possibilities). Through good planning, you can become the richest in the land. But will you?

3-player game layout; image from here

The board is set up with each player getting their base fiefdom and tiles (previously shuffled, then placed in increasing numerical order in each row) arranged in four rows in the center (see above). Each player places their knight in an available slot in the top row. (There will be an unchosen tile; discard it.) Sequentially (from left to right), players will take their knight, place their chosen tile on the corresponding column in their base fiefdom, and gain the benefits and income of that column (which can include taking gold from others). They then place their knight on an available slot in the second row and the next player goes. When a row is empty, it is replenished from the tile pool. 

Every fourth turn, a plot card (randomly selected before the game, but known to all players) is 'activated,' and all players gain (or suffer) based on their layout. After 16 rounds, the game is done, and the player with the most gold wins.

One player's game board near the end; image from here

Review

This game is simple and enjoyable set collection experience. It bears strong resemblance to Majesty: For the Realm (by the same designer) with a dash of Kingdomino. Like other Studio H offerings (check out Oltree), the quality and detail is high; I love how they made each type of tile have unique interlocking patterns and unique (yet connected) art—as the game progresses, you are building a picture. It may be a little too simple . . . replays will tell. But my initial impression is that it beats out its progenitor by a hair.

Rating: A-

Scripture and Truth (D.A. Carson et al.)

Scripture and Truth is a collection of essays from prominent theologians concerning . . . Scripture and truth. It has three sections (author follows each essay):

Part 1: Biblical Essays

• Scripture's Self-Attestation and the Problem of Formulating a Doctrine of Scripture (Grudem)
• Unity and Diversity in the New Testament: The Possibility of Systematic Theology (Carson)
• On the Form, Function, and Authority of the New Testament Letters (Longenecker)
• Redaction Criticism: on the Legitimacy and Illegitimacy of a Literary Tool (Carson)
• The New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Text Form and Authority (Silva)

Part 2: Historical Essays

• The Truth of Scripture and the Problem of Historical Relativity (Hughes)
• The Church Fathers and the Holy Scripture (Bromiley)
• Biblical Authority in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: A Question of Transition (Godfrey)
• The Princetonians and Biblical Authority: An Assessment of the Ernest Sandeen Proposal (Woodbridge and Balmer)

Part 3: Theological Essays

• The Biblical Concept of Truth (Nicole)
• Faith, Evidence, and the Scriptures (Helm)
• Infallible Scripture and the Role of Hermeneutics (Packer)

I largely enjoyed this compilation; some of it reinforced concepts in other works I have recently studied (like Frame's Doctrine of the Word of God). Some of it gave different perspectives or covered different topics. Some of it was beyond me and (I suspect) required more background in various theologians than I possess. Common in any compilation, the essays seemed to vary in readability, applicability, and value. And it wasn't as systematic or comprehensive as I would have liked. I didn't read every article, but read, skimmed, or skipped as suited my current needs and interests. It was solid overall, though I would likely recommend other works over this one to someone new to these topics.

Rating: A-

Fantasy Mapping (Wesley Jones)

In Fantasy Mapping, artist Wesley Jones' goal is to cover every aspect of the titled topic, to include:

- world building,

- geography, 

- tools & materials,

- map components, 

- styling, lettering & colouring,

- composition, and

- finished maps.

This book is a mixed bag. Some of the tips were aspects I hadn't considered; I appreciated that. And I liked that about half of the book was the final chapter, where he gave many examples of finished maps (complete with world-building backstory) in different styles. On the other hand, a lot of the book seemed too basic; tips like ""there are many different software programs available for digital art . . . each program has its strengths, so it is okay to use multiple programs to get good results." Fine and good, but that left me wanting more. And while some art tutorials were there, they were glossed over. That may be appropriate for the topic at hand, but I felt this could be been better.

Rating: C+

Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth (J.R.R. Tolkien)

In Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, Christopher Tolkien presents a collection (sometimes edited) of his late father's writings on these regions. Per him, this "book is no more than a collection of writings, disparate in form, intent, finish, and date of composition (and in my own treatement of them), concerned with Numenor and Middle-earth." Further, "many of the pieces in this collection are elaborations of matters told more briefly, or at least referred to, elsewhere . . ." This new version, a reprinting (the original was published in 1980), contains wonderful full-color plates of illustrations by the three most famous illustrators of Tolkien: Alan Lee, John Howe, and Ted Nasmith. The tales herein are separated by the Age in which they take place (per Tolkien's timeline):

First Age Tales:

- Of Tuor and his coming to Gondolin

- Narn I Hin Hurin

These are covered in The Fall of Gondolin and The Children of Hurin, respectively.

Second Age Tales:

- A description of the island of Numenor

- Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner's Wife

- The Line of Elros: Kings of Numenor

These are covered in The Fall of Numenor.

- The history of Galadriel and Celeborn

Third Age Tales:

- The disaster of the Gladden Fields [where Isildur lost the One Ring]

- Cirion and Eorl and the friendship of Gondor and Rohan

- The Quest of Erebor

- The Hunt for the Ring

- The Battles of the Fords of Isen

These give interesting backstory/context to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Part Four:

- The Druedain

- The Istari

- The Palantiri

These gave backstory to the titled topics. The Druedain are a race (very short, but not Dwarves or Hobbits) that dwindled and may have disappeared by the Third Age. The Istari are the wizards who came to Middle-earth; Gandalf and Saruman being the most known. The Palantiri are the seeing stones mentioned in The Lord of the Rings.

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Delving into Tolkien's legendarium is at once enjoyable and confusing. He often had many (and sometimes contradictory, or at least wildly varying) versions of tales, so it can be hard to follow along or reconcile a given tale with other knowledge. I read about 40% of this, being familiar with the remainder. I would have found these tales, frankly, pretty boring only ten years ago. Now, especially with Rings of Power out (and much-discussed/maligned), I did take a heightened interest, even as the variations made me hold not too closely to any one telling. I enjoyed fleshing out the events and locations mentioned in The Lord of the Rings the most.

Rating: B+