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Village Green Review

by Celine Bijleveld

Whether you view village life through the lens of Gilmore Girls or Hot Fuzz, there's one thing for sure - beating the neighbouring village in any contest of orderly beauty is paramount. This gentle-paced card game could bring out your vindictive side as you strive to win 'Village Green of the Year'.

The game increases in complexity the longer each round goes on - the more cards you play, the harder it is to make your next move without incurring a penalty. Any strategy you might have is quickly undermined by the luck of the draw - plus it's easy to slip up and ruin your own plans for shrub-based victory. Surprisingly, the concept of 'a risky move' does exist in this game.

Village Green certainly favours anyone with an eye for detail and concentration - if only so that you can spoil your rivals' landscaping efforts. Some of the flower icons can be confused at first glance too, adding an extra level of difficulty.

You can make your own village green as straightforward or elaborate as you want and, with a larger number of players, a strategy of simplicity might actually beat high-stakes attempts to play 3-D chess with statues and water features. But when playing solo and the aim of the game becomes to rack up as many points as you can, you'll soon realise that 'collecting all the roses' won't get it done.

Absorbing the rules is tricky initially - perhaps reflecting the politics of real village life. However, once you've got the hang of them, it's pretty simple to play, requiring virtually no set-up. Just deal the cards and off you go (although you will need a playing space, so this isn't one for the back of the car).

Ideal for after Sunday lunch, when slow-fun is preferable.

Do get this if:

- you like logic puzzles and quiet, thoughtful games

Don't get this if:

- you want a fast-paced party game

Little Town, a delightful game by Shun & Aya Taguchi, is simple at its core. There are only two actions to choose from; you can either place a worker in the town and activate all the adjacent locations, or you can place your worker in the construction yard to select one of 12 available buildings to add the town.  At the start, the town is a nearly blank slate, containing only mountains, lakes and forests (from which you can collect the resources you will need to construct other buildings and feed your town). The depth and complexity of the game comes from the second action, the construction of the buildings, as these open up more actions you can activate, allowing you to collect wheat, coins or even points.

Placing buildings near each other allows you to set up the possibility to take more and more powerful actions, however you’re also creating the opportunity for your opponents to do the same. Later in the game, you might be able to activate multiple buildings in a super turn, but since you have to pay for activating any buildings that don’t belong to you, your opponents also benefit from your turn. You always have the choice of whether to activate the buildings, so need to decide what will be most beneficial for you while depriving your opponents of much needed money.

There is a slight downside to this variability - depending on how the buildings are placed, there can be an obvious best action for you to take and being the first player each turn is a huge benefit in these situations. However, if you miss out, you can only blame yourself - as you contributed to the construction of the town in the first place.

The artwork (by Sabrina Miramon) and the components in this game are top notch, as you would expect from a Iello production. Pretty laser-cut wooden player pieces and buildings, obligatory wooden resource cubes and artwork that is cute but not cutesy make this game a joy to look at. The rules are fairly simple and are well set out in the rulebook so this makes the game a breeze to teach. Because each game has set buildings that are revealed at the start of the game, it’s easy to explain to new players what everything in the game does before you start. Although players are dealt secret objective cards, these are simple enough for new players to get the gist. There is some setup required for this game, but it’s not significant and doesn’t eat into your playing time. 

Tiny Town is a simple game to learn and is a great introduction to the ‘worker placement’ mechanic. The game does become a little more complex as players construct more buildings throughout, but as you’re creating this tableau together bit by bit, this is not overwhelming. Because you can pick where in the town to construct buildings and this changes the combination of actions you can take, no two games will be exactly the same. I enjoyed discovering how different buildings can be used together to create combos.  The rule book recommends starting with a set of basic buildings, which will help you learn the game. I would suggest chucking the extra buildings into the mix (you’ll select twelve at random each game) as soon as you’re comfortable with the game. This random setup refreshes the gameplay, bringing new challenges and excitement each time you play. 

Whether you’re looking for a gateway game to introduce you or others to worker placement games, or a competitive but not aggressive game to play with your family, Tiny Town could be the one for you.

Do get this if:

You want a competitive challenge

Don’t get this if:

You want a raucous party game

The Muddles Review

by Danil Potemkin

The Muddles is a game which young children can play and enjoy.  The aim of the game is to combine two different creatures to make a third creature - a Muddle! Will you combine a pig and a frog to make a Pog? Or a bee and a jellyfish (the rarest and most valuable Muddle) to make what?... A Bellyfish, of course!

Being the first to get the rarest Muddles won’t necessarily win you the game though, as it's harder to find the right combination of cards for them and also players can steal Muddles off each other. This rule caused quite a bit of excitement with my two the first time it came up. It’s not something that should happen too frequently, as only each players’ most recently gained Muddle can be stolen, but if your kids get a bit too competitive this is something to watch out for.

I played with my 3 year old and my 6 year old and the game took us about 15 minutes. My 6 year old enjoyed reading the Muddle names and quickly grasped how to play the game. Although there’s plenty of luck in whether the cards you need come up at the right time, some skill is also needed when choosing the right cards from the ones available and deciding which Muddles to aim for.

Some of the mechanics were tricky to grasp for my 3 year old, for example exchanging three matching cards for any Muddle - to be fair, that rule doesn’t make sense to me either! But then this game is for ages 6+. Still, she was able to play the game and had fun, especially enjoying repeating the funny Muddle names. The game also comes with a small story book, and she enjoyed reading that with her older brother.

This is a quick and simple game to learn and play with a bit of skill needed to win. A great stocking filler or small birthday gift for young boys and girls.

Do get this if:

you want to buy something silly and imaginative for young children to play

Don’t get this if:

you would rather buy something for children that is a more co-operative and team building type game

Now That’s What I Call Music Review

by Celine Bijleveld

Did you own the very first Now! album? If so, you’ll enjoy this game as it heavily favours Generation X (the demographic, not the punk band, that would be terribly niche)!

Not only are there categories devoted to the 80s and the 90s, the music of these decades is woven throughout the rest of the game - so if those were your principal record-buying years, you’ll be at an immediate advantage. That’s not to say there’s no mention of 21st century music - there’s plenty - but overall the questions lean back, not towards the present day.

In theory then, those of us who remember Howard Jones or Nik Kershaw but who would struggle to name last year’s Christmas No.1 ought to storm to victory - but wait! There’s a catch: regardless of your knowledge, you’re hostage to fortune because you need to collect a full set of cards and that’s down to the luck of the draw. So the players not busily reliving their misspent youth actually have a chance to steal a win. Yes, that’s right: Every loser wins ... 

Assuming that all players are relatively equally matched, this game really puts the fun back into music quizzes. I’ve lost count of the pub quizzes where my excitement at the start of the music round has quickly been replaced by bafflement and boredom. No, I don’t know the name of the third drummer of a band from Leeds whose husband once had a try-out for the England football team! Instead of testing players with obscure questions, the Now! card game goes for facts that are more in the realm of general knowledge, big hits and memorable moments. Yes, that’s right: Make this a night to remember ... (That’s enough of that now - Ed.)

If you find yourself in mixed company and there’s enough of you, the solution would be to form teams. If not, you’ll just have to be kind and give clues to players disadvantaged by their youth.

In a world where the Glastonbury festival line-up increasingly reads like free association poetry, it’s nice to feel that being a little older and wiser is something your younger peers might say they envy. Yes, that right: Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older ... (Seriously, stop it - Ed.)

Do get this if: 

you want an after-dinner or quiet-night-in game for grown-ups, especially with long-time friends. And, of course, it's great for music fans.

Don't get this if: you want a family game, unless you're happy to play in teams or bend the rules.

PS: Shalamar and the Beach Boys!

Inkling Review….coming soon!

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