A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

boardgamegeek

One Meeple: Criss Cross

There’s a few types of things that attract me to a game – first being the aesthetics. If something looks good, I tend to click and look to see what the game is about. 

Once there, I look deeper. If I am with a game group and such, I don’t mind some deeper games. But when I am playing solo, most of the time I like simple games that don’t take too long, but still have a bit of thinking or strategy to go with it. 

Criss Cross seemed to be most of that. A small game that you could throw easily in a backpack and travel with, it’s designed by Reiner Knizia. The concept is simple – roll two dice and put the symbols on your scoresheet. The catch is they have to be placed next to one another – be it vertically or horizontally. 

The goal is to get as many symbols in a row, which gets you your points. If you have other symbols in between, it makes it harder to get bigger points. The key is not just having many symbols in a row, but they have to be connected with one another. 

Criss Cross game
Criss Cross

The game, playing solo, takes no more than 10 or so minutes. It requires a bit of thinking as you never know the next roll. So do you want to break up this spot or the next one. You can place the symbols wherever – they don’t have to connect with previous ones – but at the same time, you have to think about connecting symbols. 

Reality is this game isn’t one where you will be straining your brain over things. You roll some dice and try and be strategic where you place the symbols on your grid. Before you know it, the game is over. The “advanced” version makes you look at the middle diagonal line (though you still can’t put things diagonally) and you could that up and back for points at the end of the game. That gives you a whole different way of thinking about the game. 

This was a relatively cheap game and it’s footprint, as noted before, is small. I like that aspect. Also, if I want to just chuck some dice and write a few things down, it’s easy to do. 

The replayability probably isn’t to the point where you’d want to play it every night. But with it being so small, it’s easy to keep around and use when you just need a quick game.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

One Meeple: Dice Stars

Solo games take on different levels of complexity and skill. Some are simple games that challenge you to beat your previous best score, while others involve skill and a deeper thought process.

Dice Stars has a lot to like.

  • It’s quick
  • It has a lot of dice
  • There’s some thinking involved

While the bigger view of the game is that there is a lot left to chance (totally true), there’s some thinking involved as you need to know when to push your luck and when to go with what you have.

Dice Stars is a simple game where you draft dice, and roll them. Before you draft the dice, you have to decide how many you are taking out of the bag — from 1 to 3 dice. While you can get gutsy and go for three, it could also come back and hurt you. Any dice you don’t use will be put in the reserve, which can end up hurting you even more.

The goal is to match up colors and numbers to try and maximize your scoring. You don’t want to “X” out too many boxes, though, as it could hurt your points in the end.

The interesting part with the solo variant is the “AI” grid. As you play, you need to cross off grids in the AI’s spot based on what you did. It could hurt quite a bit if your rolls aren’t going your way. If the AI grid fills, that automatically triggers the end of game scenario. I can assure you, it’s not easy to win (I haven’t yet).

Though the box shows a “space” feel to this game, there’s really no theme. You could put the Wild Wild West on the box and it would likely play the same way, with different art. Still, it’s a fun little game that makes you think some and makes you want to go back for more to try and win.

This game isn’t easy to win, as I’ve noted.

It’s small and compact and is easy to travel with. It’s a light game overall — both in physical form and game play. But it’s fun and it challenges you a little. It’s also cheap, which is nice. On Amazon right now, it’s less than $15. My only concern is if you play it a lot — what happens with scorecards. Can one buy more? Of course if you are spending 8-10 bucks on a big pad, why not just buy a new game. So many beautiful dice!

Overall, the game is enjoyable. The speed you can play it in makes it better and that there’s some thinking involved helps as well. Though I don’t think this is a game I could play every single day, it’s one I don’t mind busting out and challenging myself for 15-20 minutes.

I would like to see how this is as a multi-player game, though, as I think it could be rather interesting.

In the end, it’s worth the small investment and is something I’ll definitely keep around for a quick solo game when needed.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

One Meeple: Hostage Negotiator

Multi-player games with solo variants are a lot of fun. But they often can be anti-climactic for the ending.

Not so with Hostage Negotiator, a game specifically made for playing solo. The idea of the game is simple – you are a hostage negotiator, trying to get somebody to release hostages. There are three scenarios that you can use to start, but no game is ever the same with all the different aspects of the game.

I’ve had this game in my collection for a while as I have been tending to do a bit more solo gaming lately. With that in mind, I will usually only add to my collection if there’s a solo variant, but I really love games specifically for solo play.

For whatever reason, I took a while to play this one. I finally got around to setting it up, reading the rules, and watching a play-through video. At that point, I felt I was ready to go.

Things I have read about the game made it sound quite difficult. Early in the first game, I didn’t think I stood a chance. Surely the bad guy was going to wipe me out.

Still, I loved how the game unfolded. And I didn’t even utilize one thing I should have – turning in cards for conversation points, as I forgot all about it.

I really thought I was done for. I had some dice come back bad a few times in key spots and one of my terror cards added two more hostages. Not good. Still, I was enjoying the game and trying to figure when to and when not to use cards. I thought things out the best I could.

And as the game dwindled, I was done for. Alas, one of the terror cards I had drawn earlier was going to allow me to take any card I wanted. Knowing I needed to go for it, I grabbed the final card that would allow me to save four hostages and eliminate the abductor – if all went well.

Then I came to the ending. After the final turn, it was time to go all in or go home. I had built my hand for this final conversation, figuring it was going to be the time to do it. As I set things up, I had the two re-roll cards ready to use. I used the “You need to trust me card,” which would hopefully make it so a four would be a success. I got one hit on it, thus meaning only the roll would give me a chance to win with 4, 5, or 6. But I needed two hits.

On the first roll – one hit and one “4,” which gave me the improbable win! I had the two re-roll cards still left that I was ready to use, but I didn’t end up needed to play them!

Such a fun game. I am definitely looking forward to many more plays. I look forward to all the expansions to come from the Kickstarter campaign. Great fun for sure!

Overall thoughts

This game is a lot of fun. It plays pretty quick and there are some good decisions. There’s definitely the luck factor with dice rolls and such, but it’s all part of the game. I love that you either win or lose. It’s not beating your previous score — it’s you won or you lost. End of story.

The graphics are nice and the game play is pretty smooth. This is definitely a keeper for me.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Solo board gaming: Finding ways to play when other people aren’t around

Over the past few months, I’ve really started discovering solo board gaming.

The group I play games with usually meets once a week on Saturdays. Though I’d love to be there every week, the reality is I sometimes have other plans. That means it could be a few weeks before I get to sit down and play a few games with others.

I enjoy the hobby of board games, so sometimes I just want to play a game or two and there might not always be people around to do so.

Shephy is quickly becoming my best solo gaming experience.

Shephy is quickly becoming my best solo gaming experience.

That has led me to look more into solo gaming, so I can get my fix at different points when I’d like to play a few games. I have some multi-player games (such as Nations and Le Havre) that have solo variants. I’ve only tried the Nations one once (it’s solid), but I’m not always in the mood to set up a game like that.

I own Friday, which is a high-rated solo game, but it consistently whips me.

So I needed to look around a bit more. In fact, it’s become something that I look at when buying games – is there a solo variant and does it interest me?

Solo gaming is a definitely not for everybody. There are some games I don’t think I’d enjoy with the solo variant. Some don’t have a “winner” per say, rather you are looking to achieve a certain level etc.

I have several games I need to learn the solo variants, though, such as Imperial Settlers. I haven’t played that game since last year’s ConnCon, and this might be a way to get it to the table, if even my own.

It’s a good way to get a gaming fix.

There’s something about the bigger games that scares me off, though. I’m not too sure what it is, but part of it is definitely the setup and cleanup. I’m hoping to eventually have a bit more time for gaming in the next few months, so maybe it needs to be a more proactive approach, such as setting up a game the night before, then having it available when I come home from work.

Until then, I’ve picked up a few card-based games that are fun in the solo world. I picked up all three games in the “Oniverse,” and so far I like what I’ve seen. I’m trying to tackle them one at a time so I can truly understand them and I’ve only brought one to the table so far – Onirim.

Dice City is a good multi-player game that plays well solo.

Dice City is a good multi-player game that plays well solo.

I’ve had the chance to play that one four times (and beaten it just once), but it’s challenging and fun. The idea is to get the keys to unlock the eight doors. It’s not easy to do so, but it’s doable. There are also seven expansions with the game and I need to start figuring them out, though I’m having fun with the base game.

The other two in the Oniverse – Sylvion and Castellion – both look amazing. The artwork in all three games is really awesome. I’ve yet to tackle either of those games yet, but I’m looking things over and plan on playing them soon. Sylvion looks really interesting and I like that Castellion is a solo tile-laying game.

I’ve also played a few multi-player games that have been decent solo, specifically Flip City and Dice City, with the latter being pretty cool and one that took long enough that it felt like a pretty cool gaming experience.

Recently, I also added Hostage Negotiator to my collection. A strictly solo game, the game has you as a negotiator and working to free hostages. I haven’t played it yet as I’m still going through the rules, but I’m excited to get going with it. There are expansions, too, so if I really enjoy the game I plan on ordering those.

But the one game that I’ve really enjoyed lately was Shephy. It’s a small and fun card game where you are trying to put a big enough herd of sheep together before the bad sheep get too big of a herd. It’s challenging (I haven’t won yet), and it’s made as a solo game. I had seen photos of the game on Instagram and then went searching for it.

Turns out it’s not the easiest of games to find.

After searching the Board Game Geek forums, I found somebody who had been selling some and had them. I ordered one and had it a week or two later (came from Europe) and I was off and running with it. It’s a fun little game, easy to travel with and doesn’t take too long. At some point, hopefully I’ll even beat the game!

Solo gaming has been a lot of fun. Would I rather play in a group and such? Sure. But it’s also nice to know there are great solo games out there for those who want that aspect of playing board games.

How about you? Do you solo game? If so, what are some of your go-to picks?

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!