Board game review: Escape (the curse of the temple)

This game is a fun, fast-paced dice roller that tests both teamwork and your own ability. It's an "escape the room" style game where either everyone wins, or everyone loses.

Yes, the front of the box does make it look like a board game version of the popular iOS game Temple Run, but in reality it's anything but!

Pokemon X

A new generation of Pokemon has been released. You may yawn, or laugh at the idea of an actual adult playing a "kids game", but this is not just another 'plonk some odd designs in and add some evil guys' Pokemon game. This game has something that some of its predecessors seemed to lack- heart.

Why I can no longer play The Sims.

Once upon a time, there was a young child who was watching her dad's girlfriend play a strange game whilst also watching a history documentary. Entranced, that young child asked to play on the game.

It was a life simulation game, The Sims. It whisked the young girl off to a world she and she alone could control. If she really wanted to, she could kill the people in her game as easily as flies- but she chose to nurture them; she chose to send them to University, get them pets, allow them to have children and, when those children grew up, she did the same. But now that girl has grown up, and she can't play the Sims 3.

An expansion too far.

Assassin's Creed II (PS3)

This game is a definite improvement on its predecessor. The controls are obviously a lot more refined and the new missions etc are an interesting part of the game.

Ezio is, honestly, so much better at being an Assassin than Altair was- which is odd, because Altair had been trained in Assassination, jumping and the other ways of the Assassin whereas Ezio was just pro at climbing buildings (one of many hobbies he enjoyed in his hometown).

Board Game Review: Love Letter

Do you like board games yet find that there just isn't the time to sit and play one in your lunch break? If so, then Love Letter may be just the game you are looking for!

Players fight for the affection of the beautiful Princess.

                                                    

Assassin's Creed (PS3)

I bought this a couple of months ago, as my University course ended, in the hope of playing it in the summer holidays. However, it was not until recently that I actually got around to playing it.

The world

This game is based in the Middle East, in the Crusader Period and you are an Assassin. The game's quests are quite simple- usually culminating in you killing one of the Templars. The simplicity of these quests doesn't annoy me, as there is plenty to do in Assassin's Creed- such as helping civilians, flag fetching (I'm deadly serious) and killing guards for the hell of it.

Persona 3

I've never played a game from the Shin Megami Tensei series of RPGs, so when I was invited to play this by a friend I didn't know what to expect.

Persona 3 is a very interesting game, with many different elements that affect how the game plays. The moon, your friendships with people and even playing arcade games can have an affect on your stats in game!

Image credit: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/05/20/shin-megami-tensei-persona-3-fes-just-5-on-psn-this-week/

Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition

Unusually for me, I found this game quite tricky to play. Yes, the mechanics are all sound, but the tutorial isn't the best and it wasn't until a friend and I played it together that I properly understood how the heck this game works. He recommends that anyone thinking of playing Blood Bowl watches TotalBiscuit's playthrough to get a grip on the game.

Dungeonland

This is one of many games that I've wanted to play because I watched someone online playing it- in this case, it was TotalBiscuit's playthrough of Dungeonland that made me NEED this game. And why wouldn't I?

The idea of being a Dungeon Master has always appealed to me, but I couldn't be bothered with all the intricate plot lines and different endings that can come with a self-written campaign- even if your campaign starts in a dungeon there are multiple paths your players might take. In Dungeonland, your players choose their class, weapon/spells and buffs, then they're dropped into a dungeon for you to torture.

Board Game Review: Ladies & Gentlemen.

This is an interesting little game for 4-10 players. It has many different aspects which work well together, without making the game feel like there's too much going on.

It's a nice game- both for people who play board games on a regular basis and those that shy away from the idea of board gaming. It may seem dull, but when you have a grown man begging his "husband" to buy him a pretty dress, new levels of comedy ensue.