A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

dice stars

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!