Blog search

Impulsive shopping - Hive and Looping Louie

Got some games, on a whim. Despite my cool initial feelings towards Hive, I couldn't resist the new bakelite edition. Just too cool, you can't beat big, chunky pieces of plastic when it comes to board game pieces. Hive--> I...

Posted by Mikko on December 13, 2006 6:39 AM

Aqua Romana

Review of Aqua Romana in Finnish. Aqua Romana--> Aqua Romana is a tile-laying game where players build Roman aqueducts. Theme doesn't make much sense, as usual - the players score points for the length of aqueducts, so efficiency flies out...

Posted by Mikko on November 27, 2006 10:14 AM

Pentago

This review in Finnish Pentago, the Finnish Adult Game of the year for 2006, is a twist on good old naughts and crosses. Players try to form five in a row on a 6x6 grid. That's fairly boring, but fortunately...

Posted by Mikko on October 17, 2006 2:21 PM

Viva Topo!

Finnish edition of this review It's easy to dismiss Viva Topo! as a simple game for kids. That's what it is, but it's also more! It's become the current favourite of me and my wife. We play it together, as...

Posted by Mikko on October 16, 2006 12:34 PM

Quick touch with Pentago

I played Pentago, the Finnish game of the year, yesterday with Johanna. My darling wife was amazed when she heard that was the winner. She may not be a hardcore gamer, but she isn't clueless either! The game sucks, simply...

Posted by Mikko on October 13, 2006 12:36 PM

Celtica

I got a review copy of Celtica, the much-dismissed game from Kramer and Kiesling. I don't get the really bad ratings; the game has an average of 5.2 now, I'd expect something above 6 (like the 6.4 for That's Life!...

Posted by Mikko on October 12, 2006 9:45 AM

Children's games - Das kleine Gespenst and Geisterwäldchen

I tried some children's games with Johanna. These are always pretty hard to evaluate when you don't have children to try them with. Both games are not very good for adult use, so they'll end up in storage, waiting for...

Posted by Mikko on September 4, 2006 2:25 PM

Mice and a cat

I got this year's Marektoy children's games lineup. It's a nice bunch of games from Drei Magier and Selecta, mostly. Selecta games impressed me: like Haba, Selecta is a producer of wooden toys and the games have great components. I...

Posted by Mikko on August 2, 2006 7:09 AM

Niagara

Next up in my Finnish review site: Niagara. While Zoch is well-known for games with good presentation, Niagara is an extremely pretty game. From the first pictures I saw from the Essen fair 2004 I knew I had to see...

Posted by Mikko on March 24, 2005 12:19 PM

Pirate's Cove

I wrote a review of Pirate's Cove (in Finnish; review number 92!). I like Pirate's Cove. I like the fancy bits (I think it's one of the prettiest games I've ever seen), the theme is great and the game is...

Posted by Mikko on February 28, 2005 3:26 PM

Dawn Under

Another review on my Finnish site: Dawn Under or Dicke Luft in der Gruft. Dawn Under is a delightful game of putting vampires to rest before the dawn. The thick, double-layered board has sixty graves covered with headstones made of...

Posted by Mikko on January 25, 2005 4:01 PM

Four Dragons - eyewitness report

I got a copy of Four Dragons today. As the Geek link betrays, it is a remake of Dia de los Muertos, one of my favourite card games. The new edition loses the strong theme (more about that in Four...

Posted by Mikko on November 17, 2004 1:08 PM

Amazing Puerto Rico board

Downloading Mike Doyle's PRege, La Ciudad might take a while, but it's well worth it. Mike Doyle was frustrated because he was unable to see the whole picture of a Puerto Rico game. He went on and created some new...

Posted by Mikko on November 7, 2004 11:31 PM

Fist of Dragonstones

Another day, another game review: Fist of Dragonstones. In Finnish, as typical... Tom Vasel has written a very good review in English.Fist of Dragonstones--> Anyway, I consider Fist of Dragonstones to be a pretty good game, even though I dislike...

Posted by Mikko on June 28, 2004 9:57 AM

Anathema

I wrote a review of Anathema. It's in Finnish as usual. Anathema is interesting game for me, mostly because of it's art. Drew Tucker is one of my favourite artists and Anathema offers a deck full of his art! What...

Posted by Mikko on March 23, 2004 4:56 PM

Birthday gift: A House Divided

My mother gave me A House Divided as a birthday gift (my birthday is today - I'm 23 now). It was on my wish list (AHD, Wallenstein and Battle Cry - a bit militaristic list), so it wasn't totally out...

Posted by Mikko on October 10, 2003 3:05 PM

Go equipment

I got a packet from Gaimport today. In it I found two fake leather Go boards (19 by 19 and 13 by 13), two plastic containers for stones and a cardboard box containing two bags of stones. Exactly what I...

Posted by Mikko on September 23, 2003 2:30 PM

Goban beauty

Blake Haber contacted me and sent a link to his web site about Go. It is highly recommended; he has some very interesting and untraditional Goban designs. There's also some information about Go books and a nifty movie clip, which...

Posted by Mikko on June 1, 2003 12:27 PM

Villa Paletti

I happened to run into Villa Paletti when I was shopping some birthday gifts for my girlfriend. I resisted the temptation until the next day, when I went and bought it. I was finally able to play it for real...

Posted by Mikko on November 4, 2002 5:32 PM