Tag Archives: Airboy
GrogHeads Reviews Mansions of Madness 2
The second part of our Weekend of Madness ~
Avery Abernethy, 5 August 2018
I’ve played Mansions of Madness 2 (MM2) with a group of five random people at a MACE gaming convention and solo at home. MM2 provides a unique board game experience. At $90 retail at Amazon, it is also the most expensive board game I’ve ever purchased.
In MM2 you are playing a character with a set of skills. Each player (up to 8) has an investigator avatar. If you play solo, the manual suggests picking two investigators to run. My solo game used only the core MM2 set playing “Cycle of Eternity.” My convention game with random strangers had five characters and used an expansion.
MM2 provided one of the best solo board game experiences I’ve had.
Players cooperatively attempt to solve the mystery. The investigator’s goal is unknown at the start of the game. You begin with limited information in a single room with closed doors and potential clues. Game setup requires starting the computer app, selecting the scenario, and indicating to the app which investigators are playing. After this information is inputted, the app displays the initial room setup and provides starting information.
The core Mansions of Madness 2 game comes with four scenarios of varying difficulty. MM2 provided one of the best solo board game experiences I’ve had. The app provided background sounds. I had no idea what would happen when I opened a closed door or made a game choice. Because the app ran the mystery, monsters, puzzles and other aspects of the game, it was a very immersive experience.
GrogHeads Reviews One Deck Dungeon
Small stature. Big fun? ~
Avery Abernethy, 1 August 2018
One Deck Dungeon is a simple one or two character dungeon exploration game. The two character game can be played either cooperatively with another person or both run by the same individual. The game centers around rolling a handful of color coded die to overcome encounters. The more experience your character has the more dice they obtain and the more ways they have to increase die values, swap dice of different colors, or gain additional dice.
The game mechanics are simple. You pick either one or two characters from five choices (Fighter; Mage; Thief; Paladin; Archer). Each character has different starting attributes on four different variables (melee, magic, nimbleness and health). Different colored dice represent each attribute. Next you pick an opponent as the “boss” of the dungeon out of a set of choices. Bosses are rated at different difficulty levels and each changes the characteristics of the overall dungeon challenges.
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- Archer
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- Warrior
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- Rogue
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- Mage
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- Paladin
click images to enlarge
GrogHeads Reviews Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition
Can the update & enhancement bring the game up to modern standards? ~
Avery Abernethy, 30 June 2018
Baldur’s Gate was originally released in December 1998. It was a tremendous financial success selling more than a million copies worldwide. It was also a critical success earning a GameRankings score of 92%. I bought the game when it was first released and later the expansion Tales of the Sword Coast. I ended up replaying the game many times.
Minsc also has many memorable dialogue options including “Butt-Kicking for Goodness.”
An Enhanced Edition of Baldur’s Gate was released in January of 2013 on Steam and www.gog.com. The Original edition of Baldur’s Gate was removed from the market. Baldur’s Gate has one of the most memorable characters in computer RPG history, Minsc the Ranger with his companion Boo the hamster. Minsc obtained Boo after a severe head injury, thinks Boo talks to him, and that Boo is a “space hamster.” Minsc also has many memorable dialogue options including “Butt-Kicking for Goodness.”
Origins 2018 – The Coolest Thing You Saw
What did the Grogs think was the coolest thing they saw at the show? Let them tell you ~
The GrogHeads, 27 June 2018
video by Merkusa
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GrogHeads Reviews Underrail
Airboy dives into the bowels of Underrail to see if it’s worth taking the plunge ~
Avery Abernethy, 14 April 2017
Computer RPGs often have an excellent design concept but poor execution. Other RPGs have a great design and good execution, but play balance goes off usually later in the game. Your characters become so powerful that almost nothing presents a challenge. Very few RPGs have a good concept, and game mechanics while retaining challenging (but not impossible) play throughout the game. Even fewer RPGs manage to do this while enabling different effective play styles. Underrail is one of a handful of games I’ve ever played which hits all of these benefits.
