Tag: en

Board Game Review – Sushi Go! [EN]

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Sushi Go!

I’ve been wanting to have this game for a long time. Because this is an excellent game for new gamers, kids and families. Very simple with a cute sushi artwork. It is also very useful to introduce new players to drafting mechanism. You can go to such games as 7 Wonders after playing this. But Sushi Go! in itself is a very good game for me. The game lasts for 3 rounds in each of them players getting a hand of cards, picking just one of them and handing the other cards to the neigbour to the left (getting a pile of cards from a player to their right), then picking a card again and passing rest the same way. After picking every card all players reveal their picks simultaneously. Points are awarded at the end of the round for having various combinations. Some cards give you points for having pairs, some give you points for having a majority of sushi type, etc. All the rules are very simple and new players start to grasp it after a few plays (of course, to be good at it, you have to play this game once or twice). Then the mind games, bluffing and pushing your luck begins (will he use that card to beat my total, will i still get this card after it passes all the players). I was doubting about the two players game of this, but it worked just as fine. And what i liked about it, is that you are not using all the cards, so you can’t be sure how many cards of one type will be in the game. You can’t plan a lot then (not that you can plan a lot in a regular game though :)) and you have to take more risk. It is a bit tough to give it a good rating as it is so very simple, but it is one of the best in its category of lightweight games. 8/10

Most anticipated games of 2017 [LT-EN]

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[LT] Kadangi visi dabar sudarinėja sąrašus įdomiausių ir laukomiausių stalo žaidimų pasirodysiančių 2017 metais, nusprendžiau ir aš sudaryti tokį sąrašą 🙂 Aišku, aš nežaidžiu labai daug žaidimų, tuo labiau naujų žaidimų, todėl vargu ar daug iš jų išbandysiu šiemet ar išvis išbandysiu. Na, išskyrus pirmą vietą, kurį bandysiu įsigyti, kai jis pasirodus.

[EN] As everyone is doing their top anticipated board games of 2017 lists, i’ve decided to compile my own 🙂 Of course, i’m not playing that many games and especially new games, so i doubt i will try many of them this year or at all. Well, except for the first one, which i’m plannig to buy as it comes out.

[LT] Thunderstone vis dar yra mano mėgstamiausias visų laikų žaidimas. Ir aš vis dar neturiu jo fizinės versijos (žaidžiu tik Yucatoj). Taigi čia “must have” man 🙂
[EN] Thunderstone is my number one game of all times. And i still don’t own a physical version of it (playing on Yucata only). So it is a must have for me 🙂

[LT] Visai neseniai buvau labai nustebintas išgirdęs apie šio kompiuterinio bokštų gynybos žaidimo stalo žaidimo versijos Kickstarter kampaniją. Žaidimo kūrėjai jau surinko numatytą pinigų sumą ir žada įvairius patobulinimus kaip metalinės figūrėlės ir pan. Tikiuosi jiems pavyks atkurti šio žaidimo dvasią.
[EN] I was surprised to hear about the Kickstarter campaing for the board game implementation of this tower defence PC game. Funs are already gathered and creatores are sharing additional goodies for the game, like metal miniatures. Lets hope they will manage to recreate the feel of the original game.

[LT] Šis žaidimas turi visus šansus būti visiška nesėkme, bet labai sudomino mechanika su dviem lentom skirtingose laikuose (dabartis ir ateitis). Kickstarter kampanija turėtų startuoti pavasarį.
[EN] It has all the chances to be a flop. But the mechanism of having two separate boards for the present and the future sounds very interesting. Kickstarter campaign should be starting soon.

[LT] Apie šį žaidimą teko girdėt Wurfel Reviews kanale. Nors roundel mechanizmas nėra mano mėgstamiausias, bet galimybė turėt nuosavą roundel’ą ir jį modifikuot skamba įdomiai.
[EN] I’ve heard about this game from Wurfel Reviews. Although roundel mechanism is not my favorite it sounds interesting to be able to have your own roundel and modify it.

[LT] Na gerai, tai ne visai žaidimas. Bet papildymas žaidimui. Žaidimui kurio vis dar neturiu 😀 Bet iš to ką mačiau, jis man turėtų patikti. O šis papildymas įneš įvairovės suteikiant specialias savybes žaidėjams.
[EN] Ok, this is not a game. It’s an expansion for a game. For a game i don’t own yet 😀 Though i should like it from what i’ve see about it. And this expansion should add more variety by adding special powers for the players.

Würfel Reviews Giveaway! [LT-EN]

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[LT] Stalo žaidimų apžvalgininkų pora iš Estijos (Ilja ir Alina) paleido dovanų akciją savo kanale – Würfel Reviews. Tapti dalyvių labai paprasta:

  1. Reikia prenumeruot jų kanalą;
  2. Paspausti Like po šiuo video;
  3. Parašyti komentarą po šiuo video (palinkėjimas, pasiūlymas ir pan.).

Kai kanalas pasieks 1000 prenumeratorių ribą (rašant šią žinutę buvo 789), bus ištraukti 4 laimingieji kuriems paštu bus nusiųsta krūvelė žaidimų iš įvairių leidėjų (tarp jų mačiau Honshu, Race to the Noth Pole, Dale of Merchants (1/2)). Smagi akcija. Kviečiu prisidėti, juolab daryti daug nereikia 🙂

[EN] Board games reviewers from Estonia (Ilja and Alina) have just started a giveaway on their channel – Würfel Reviews. You can become a participant by:

  1. Subscribing to their channel;
  2. Pressing Like under that video;
  3. Adding a comment under that video (cheering, suggesting something, etc.)

4 lucky ones will recieve a pile of games by mail when their channnel hits 1000 subscribers (at the moment of posting this it was 789). I saw Honshu, Rece to the North Pole and both Dale of Merchants 1 and 2 among them. Fun event. Join it, specially as there is not much to do to be able to win 😉

WSUS woes with Windows 10 [EN]

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At the end of 2016 i had a chance to update our WSUS system. We’ve been using WSUS 3 version for almost 6 years on a rather old Windows Server 2008 platform. WSUS was installed as a separate service back then. And now we have used a new Windows Server 2012 R2 as a basis for it (of course, after the release of 2016 it can be considered as outdated already). WSUS 4 is now being deployed as a standard role (Server Role). All other requirements and features are selected and installed automatically. Although WSUS 4 itself both visually and in its functions hasn’t changed much. WSUS 4 deployment and configuration was a breeze and haven’t caused any problems, especially as it is so standartized and simplified in this case. But at the same time we have decided to launch a Windows 10 pilot (2 new PCs). So Windows 10 category and its updates have been enabled in our new WSUS system. And then the hell broke loose..

First of all, if you want to manage and deploy Windows 10 updates via WSUS, you have to provide a lot more storage space. Because one Cumulative update can take 1-1.5 GB 😯  Yes, i can’t wait for a time when MS will introduce their improved Windows 10 updates with a new Windows Update system, which should take less space (it should probably be revealed with the Creators Update in the Spring of 2017). The other thing to keep in mind – Feature Updates or Upgrades (how they are called in WSUS). These are not security or critical updates, but the new builds (just like SR1 – 1511 or Anniversary Update – 1607). WSUS 4 can’t normally deal with them without a few special hotfixes. So enabling this category without them can break your WSUS 4 system. We haven’t even tried this yet, as we are installing the newest build to this day – 1607. I might post about nuances of updating to the newer build via WSUS after the Creators Update arrives next year. But if you are installing WSUS 4, you can prepare for it in advance by installing those hotfixes and doing other required changes (more on this later). Read More

Finally! Cat Box has arrived :) [LT-EN]

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[LT] Apie šį žaidimą rašiau dar praeitų metų liepą, kai parėmiau šio žaidimo Kickstarter kampaniją ir tuo pačiu užsakau sau vieną kopiją. Tiesa kopijos nesulaukiau 2016 lapkritį kaip tikėjausi. Pirma siunta kažkur pradingo ir taip manęs ir nepasiekė. Bet Grail Games iškart atsiliepė į mano pranešimą ir nusiuntė žaidimą dar kartą per kitus siuntėjus. Ir kaip tik šį ketvirtadienį gavau žinutę iš pašto, o vakar atsiėmiau šį mielai atrodantį mažą žaidimuką. Iš esmės jame yra kaladė didelių kvadratinių kortų su kačiukais, šiek tiek medinių žetonų kiekvienam žaidėjui (taip pat pagalbos lapeliai visiems žaidėjams) ir taisyklės. Tikiuosi greitai jį išbandyt 🙂

[EN] I’ve first posted about this game last year in July, when i have backed its Kickstarter campaign and ordered one copy for myself. But i haven’t received it in November of 2016 as i was expecting. My copy got lost somewhere and never reached me. But Grail Games has responded promptly and sent me another copy with a different service. I’ve received a message from my postal office and collected this cute looking game yesterday. In general this is a little game with just a deck of big square cards, a few wooden tokens for every player (and reference sheets for everyone) and the rules. I’m hoping to give it a try soon 🙂

Top 10 New games (v2016) [EN]

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As i play lots of new games during the year (not necessary released in 2016, just the games i have first time played this year), i thought it would be interesting to make a list of such games and rank them.

10. Smash Up – i’ve seen a number of reviews of this game and its expansions, also saw others playing it live. It’s concept looked interesting. Granted, i have only tried a few decks on Steam, so maybe overall impression would be different after trying more decks. But after playing it, it become clear that it’s not so good. Many cards in your hand are just useless trash and situation with bases is chaotic and ever changing.

9. Automobiles – another game with an interesting mechanism. I’ve played a number of various deck building games, but this was my first bag (or pool) building game. In theory it’s very interesting. But in practice it seemed to chaotic and luck driven. One turn you barely move, next turn you jump half of the track ahead. It’s also annoying to constantly having to check what color does what on the cards as they change in every game and it is not so easy to remember them all.

8. Las Vegas – very simple, maybe even overly simple, game. You jusy roll the dice and select what money spot to put them on. I suspect it should be more fun playing it live. But it is also a nice time filler playing online.

7. The Witcher Adventure Game – again, played it only on PC against AI. but i think it is enough to see that this is not an Adventure at all and more a “collect x of this tokens to turn into points” type of game. It still has some of the Witcher flavor and is an ok game, but can become repetitive and boring very fast.

6. The Voyages of Marco Polo – this game gives me the most headache to rate it. By all means it should be fighting to take a spot in my Top 10 of all time. It is a great euro game with an interesting dice allocating mechanism and variable players powers. And i love contracts fulfilling part of it. BUT. The travelling part throws me off. It is just too complicated and time consuming and takes too much time off the main part of collecting resources and fulfilling the contacts. You can’t do both, so you have to choose which one to do or just not do travelling at all. And the game is over too quickly to manage to travel even for one of your tickets. So, i love one part of this game and hate the other one. Maybe i will have to play it live to see how exactly other players manage those parts to make it a pleasant game. Read More

Top 10 Best games (v2016) [EN]

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As i have done last year, i will provide a list of games that are best for me (as of now, 2016). There will be games which i maybe haven’t played this year or haven’t played much, some games are older, some a new. As this is second time i am doing this, i will also provide numbers of how this list has changed (which games dropped or got higher, new games on the list, etc.).

10. Cacao (-1) – tile placement is one of my favorite mechanisms. This game is so easy and fast and yet providing meaningful choices. It also scales well. And the thing that it looks gorgeous only helps. It dropped one step, but in general it’s the same spot as last year 🙂

9. Magic: The Gathering (new) – although i haven’t included this game on my last year’s list, this is still the most played game of mine. And the most hated game on the other hand. By the way, i haven’t ever played the paper version of it. Only the PC version (Magic Duels at the moment). I like it’s concept and it is really addicting (which explains why i still play it almost every day for 7 years probably). But i can’t rate it higher because of enormous luck of starting hand. It can either give you a win or make you concede right away. Other modern card games have ways to deal with that. Either letting you to choose your starting hand or remove just some of the cards and draw replacements. Magic only lets you redraw the whole hand, which might leave you with as bad hand as it was (or even worse). Magic feels dated, but i still like it, so it deserves a spot on this list.

8. Race for the Galaxy (+2) – still one of the best card games, with simultaneous action selection, multiple usage of cards. It’s rather quick to play, when everyone knows how to play it. But it’s a nightmare to teach someone. That’s why it doesn’t get played that often.

7. 7 Wonders (-) – as last year it takes the 7th spot completely unintentionally 🙂 I like drafting. 7 Wonders is the ultimate drafting game. Simple enough to teach and really quick even with 7 players. Although it can get dull after a while as you do almost the same every time. But expansions help spice it up a bit. If i ever get Babel expansion it might jump a little bit higher.

6. Ticket to Ride (-) – another undying classic on this list. Still going strong. Although i have only played it on PC this year, but i still like most of the maps (Europe is what i own and it still feels the best). I have also tried the incredible Anniversary version. It can even go higher when i try the newest UK and Pennsylvania maps. Read More

Christmass gift – Imperial Settlers [LT-EN]

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[LT] Štai ką gavau iš brolio ir jo žmonos Kalėdų proga 🙂 Aišku, teko jiems parodyt savo “wishlistą”, nes kitaip nežinotų kas mane domina. Bet kadangi nežinojau kurį žaidimą jie pasirinks, tai vis tiek gavosi savotiška staigmena (nors vis tiek nuojauta buvo apie šitą ar dar kitą žaidimą). Na ir kaip bonusas – rinkinys spalvingų Chessex kauliukų. Dabar aš turiu d20 🙂 O žaidimas mano akį patraukė seniai. Čia savotiškas perdirbinys senesnio 51st State žaidimo, bet senovinių civilizacijų motyvais ir su šiek tiek nugludintomis mechanikomis. Kažkaip net nežinojau, kad šį žaidimą galima žaist ir vienam. Todėl galbūt jau rytoj bent taip galėsiu išbandyt. Nežinia ar spėsiu jį su kažkuo pažaist normaliai iki Naujųjų, todėl neaišku ar spės jis pakliūti į mano metų pabaigos topus. Žiūrėsim 🙂

O aš savo ruožtu irgi nusprendžiau jiems padovanot žaidimą (pirmą kartą kažkam dovanojau žaidimą, na, kolegoms bendra dovana nesiskaito). Diamant (kitas pavadinimas Incan Gold). Paprastas, greitas, tinka vakarėliams-šventėms, kai daug svečių ir norisi kažkokios lengvos pramogos (žaidimas 3-8 žaidėjams).

[EN] That’s what i’ve got for Christmas from my brother and his wife 🙂 Of course, they needed to see my wishlist to know what interests me. But i didn’t know what game exactly will they pick, so it was still a surprise (although i had a feeling about this or another game). And as a bonus i’ve alse received a set of colorful Chessex dice. Now i own a d20 🙂 This game has drawn my attention a while ago. It’s a remake of sorts of an older game – 51st State, with an ancient civilizations theming and tweaked gameplay. I didn’t even know it can be played solo. So i might be able to try it at least this way tomorrow. Don’t know if i will be able to play it normally with someone before 2017, so it’s not clear whether it will make my year ending tops. Will see 🙂

And i myself has gifted them a game also (first time giving a game as a gift, well, not counting gifting games to colleagues as a shared gift). Diamant (or Incan Gold in another version). Simple, fast, suitable for parties, when you have a lot of guests and you need some casual entertainment (it’s for 3-8 players).

Package received – Sushi Go! [LT-EN]

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sushigo[LT] Šią savaitę pagaliau atvyko siuntinys iš JAV su žaidimu kurį laimėjau kasmetinio Jack Vasel Memorial Fund akciono metu. Kadangi ant pakuotės buvo nurodytas mano numeris, šį kart Lietuvos Paštas pranešė apie siuntą sms žinute, o ne kaip visada su lapeliu. Progresas 🙂 Sushi Go! žaidimas yra gana populiarus. Dėl savo lengvumo, paprastumo ir kainos. Be to jį pardavinėjo plačiai įvairiuose prekybos centrų tinkluose. Pagrindinė žaidimo mechanika “drafting” yra viena mano mėgstamiausių. Vienas pavyzdžių yra 7 Wonders. Be to šis žaidimas turi labai mielą suši tematikos apipavidalinimą. Gaila tik, kad maksimalus žaidėjų skaičius yra 5. Nes man rodos jis puikiai tiktų žaidimų vakarams, kai mūsiškių susirenka 7 žmonės. Šiaip, žaidime yra net 108 kortos, taigi manau galima sugalvoti kažkokias tai namų taisykles ir žaisti su didesniu skaičiumi žaidėjų 🙂

[EN] I have finally received a package from US this week with the game i have won during the annual Jack Vasel Memorial Fund auction. As this time there was my phone number on the package this time our Post Office informed me with a text message and not with a paper notice as usual. Progress 🙂 Sushi Go! game is quite popular. Because of its light and easy gameplay and a pretty wide distribution through various supermarket chains. The main mechanic of the game is “drafting” which i like. One of the examples would be 7 Wonders. This game also has a cute sushi inspired artwork. It’s a pity it only goes up to 5 players though. Because i think it would go over well during game night when we have 7 players. Well, it has 108 cards, so we can come up with some house rule to include more players 🙂

New purchase – Brick Party [LT-EN]

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brickparty[LT] Pasinaudojau Juodo Penktadienio nuolaidomis Rikis parduotuvėje ir įsigijau jau antrą iš eilės Renagade Games Studios leidėjo žaidimą, kuris beje irgi turi laikmatį 🙂 Brick Party irgi yra komandinis žaidimas. Tik šį kartą žaidėjai dalinasi į komandas po du žmones ir visos komandos varžosi tarpusavyje. Vienas komandos narys būna Architektoriumi ir žodžiais bando nusakyti komandos draugui kokią konstrukciją mato kortoje, o Statytojas bando tą konstrukciją kuo greičiau pagaminti iš spalvingų kaladėlių. Kai viena komanda pabaigia konstrukciją, kitiems lieka 30 sekundžių pabaigti savąją. Taip pat žaidime yra įvairios papildomos taisyklės, kurios apsunkina komandos darbą (tarkim statyti užsimerkus ar nenaudojant nykščių). Kaip ir FUSE atveju manau šis žaidimas gali padėti gerinti komunikaciją tarp kolegų. Ar sugriauti santykius 😀

[EN] I have used the Black Friday discount opportunity and purchased my second game by Renagade Game Studios in my FLGS Rikis, which by the way also has a timer 🙂 Brick Party is also a team game. But in this one all players are splitting into teams of two and all teams compete among themselves. One team member is the Architect trying to describe to his team mate what he sees on the construction card with his words (or gestures). And the Builder is trying to to build that construction with the colorful blocks. When one team accomplishes this, other teams have 30 seconds to finish theirs. There are also various rules in the game, which make it harder to complete constructions (say you have to doit with your eyes closed, or without using your thumbs). Just like with FUSE i think this game can improve communication between colleagues. Or destroy relationships 😀