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GA Membership gives you 4 ISSUES of GA Report.
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Summer 2019 GA Report
Reviewed by Herb Levy AZUL: STAINED GLASS OF SINTRA (Next Move Games, 2 to 4 players, ages 8 and up, 30-45 minutes; $39.99) What do you do when you manage ...
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SO WHAT IS A GAME NIGHT REALLY LIKE? One of the great joys of gaming (of the many, many great joys of gaming) is the chance to sit down with ...
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[It has been awhile since we reached back and showcased a game classic that has, sadly, gone out of print. But with Karl-Heinz Schmiel's classic game about German politics, Die ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy GIZMOS (CMON, 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, 40-50 minutes; $34.99) The current focus of our educational system is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and ...
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Reviewed by Chris Kovac KEY FLOW (R&D Games/Huch!, 2 to 6 players, ages 14 and up, 75 minutes; $60) Key Flow is a 2-6 player card management/point engine building game, ...
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Reviewed by Selwyn Ward LORD OF THE RINGS: JOURNEY IN MIDDLE-EARTH (Fantasy Flight Games, 1 to 5 players, ages 14 and up, 60+ minutes; $99.95) It’s gotten so that nowadays ...
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[One of the irregularly appearing features in Gamers Alliance Report are revisits to great games that are no longer in print. Sometimes, those out of print gems get a second ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy MASTER THIEF (Breaking Games, 2 to 6 players, ages 10 and up, 15-20 minutes; $25) There is a lot of valuable stuff in the museum and ...
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Reviewed by Pevans MUSEUM (Holy Grail Games, 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and up, 30-60 minutes; $59.99) How to be a curator I got to play Museum at this ...
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Reviewed by Greg J. Schloesser PANDORIA (Irongames, 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, 90-120 minutes; $64.99) I guess lessons are not learned very easily. The five peoples occupying ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy SPACE BASE (Alderac Entertainment Group [AEG], 2 to 5 players, ages 14 and up, 60 minutes; $39.99) In the future when space travel becomes a recognized ...
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Reviewed by James Davis U-BOOT: THE BOARD GAME (Ares Games, 1 to 4 players, ages 12 and up, 30-120 minutes; $99.95) Willkommen an Bord, Herr Kaleun! Have you ever wondered ...
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Reviewed by Andrea "Liga" Ligabue UNDERWATER CITIES (Rio Grande Games, 1 to 4 players, ages 13 and up, 90-120 minutes; $69.95) The earth is overpopulated. The colonization of Mars is ...
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Spring 2019 GA Report
Reviewed by Joe Huber 5X5 CITY (OKAZU Brand, 1 to 4 players, ages 8 and up, 30 minutes; 3000 ¥ [about $27]) Hisashi Hayashi is among the most prolific Japanese game designers, releasing four or five games a year through his OKAZU Brand label. These releases are roughly evenly split ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy THE ARRIVAL (Cryptozoic, 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and up, 75-90 minutes; $40) In a time long forgotten, the sinister King Balor of the Evil Eye rules the luscious emerald isle of Erin aided and abetted by the Formori, a supernatural face of fierce monstrous ...
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Reviewed by Greg J. Schloesser COIMBRA (eggerstpiele, 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, 60 to 90+ minutes; $69.99) I must admit that with my decades of involvement in the hobby, I find my tolerance for “heavy” games decreasing. Perhaps it is that I find it increasingly difficult to ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy CROWN OF EMARA (Pegasus Spiele, 1 to 4 players, ages 12 and up, 45-75 minutes; $49.99) The kingdom of Emara is prosperous and at peace - but good times do not last forever. Wise King Theodorius, needing to prepare for a successor, has come up with ...
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You are an enemy of the Daleks! Pevans avoids extermination to review DR. WHO: TIME OF THE DALEKS (Gale Force 9, 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, 120+ minutes; $50) If you look on YouTube you’ll find every version of the Doctor Who theme music. I play the original ...
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SIZE 10 FOOT IN A SIZE 7 SHOE Not to belabor the obvious but... the internet is a vast place and you will encounter people of all types in cyberspace. In the corners of that world that I haunt, I often come across folks who have just discovered this joy ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy EXPANCITY (Breaking Games, 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, 60-90 minutes; $60) Urban development is a theme explored more than once in the World of Games. The latest game to tackle this subject comes from designer Alex Cutler as players combine a bit of ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy GUGONG (Tasty Minstrel Games, 1 to 5 players, ages 12 and up, 60-90 minutes; $59.95) Few cities conjure up such visions of awe and mystery as the Forbidden City of ancient China. This city, known as Gùgōng, was also riddled with corruption! To correct that blight, ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy ILLUSION (Pandasaurus Games, 2 to 5 players, ages 8 and up, 15-20 minutes; $14.95) Color - and perception - is key in the new game from award-winning designer Wolfgang Warsch that challenges your sense of color AND your senses: Illusion ...
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Reviewed by Chris Kovac QUARTERMASTER GENERAL: 1914 (PSC Games/Griggling Games, 3 to 5 players, ages 12 and up, 180+ minutes; $59.95) Quartermaster General 1914 is the third game in the card driven light strategic Quartermaster General series by Ian Brody after Quartermaster General (featured in the Summer 2015 issue of ...
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An iron curtain has descended. Pevans reviews... QUARTERMASTER GENERAL: THE COLD WAR (PSC Games/Griggling Games, 3 to 6 players, ages 14 and up, 120 minutes; $65.80) The idea behind all the Quartermaster General games is Napoleon’s maxim that “an army marches on its stomach”. Supply lines are key and players ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy RACCOON TYCOON (Forbidden Games, 2 to 5 players, ages 8 and up, 90 minutes; $49.99) Astoria is a prosperous place where towns, factories and railroads are appearing on the landscape, the harbinger of even greater economic times ahead - and we don't want to be left ...
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Reviewed by Chris Wray RAILROAD INK (Horrible Games/CMON, 1 to 6 players, ages 8 and up, 20-30 minutes; $17.99) The “roll and write” genre is having a moment, with dozens of titles releasing in recent months. One of the bigger splashes has been Railroad Ink designed by Hjalmar Hach & Lorenzo ...
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Reviewed by Kevin Whitmore ROOT (Leder Games, 2 to 5 players, ages 14 and up, 90-120 minutes; $60) Root is an impressive game designed by Cole Wehrle whose John Company (featured in the Summer 2018 GA Report) was released by Leder Games in 2018. Readers might recall that Leder Games ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy TIME BREAKER (Looney Labs, 2 to 5 players, ages 8 and up. 10-40 minutes; $25) Something we seem to never have enough of is time, so when someone is messing around with it, you can easily understand the need to set things right. In this new ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy VICTORIAN MASTERMINDS (CMON, 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, 60 minutes; $49.99) Many games entice players to connect with their "inner child". This time, designers Antoine Bauza and Eric M. Lang entice gamers to connect with their "inner evil" as players assume the roles ...
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Winter 2019 GA Report
Reviewed by Herb Levy ALTIPLANO: THE TRAVELER (Renegade Games/dlp, 2 to 5 players, ages 12 and up, 60-120 minutes; $30) One of the best games released in 2017 was Altiplano designed by Reiner Stockhausen, a game set in the high mountains of the Andes as players traveled to different locations, ...
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Reviewed by Chris Kovac AUZTRALIA (Stronghold Games, 1 to 4 players, ages 13 and up, 30-120 minutes; $69.95) Auztralia is an action planning game with some light wargame and resource management elements designed by Martin Wallace and the first release in Stronghold Games' "The Great Designer Series". The theme of ...
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CHEF'S SURPRISE Eating is one of those things all of us do. Some of us eat to live; others live to eat. And sometimes the activity of eating can be elevated into art! There are a lot of cooking shows on television today, even a few entire networks, devoted to ...
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EYES ON ESSEN: A LOOK AT GERMANY'S GIANT GAME CONVENTION by Selwyn Ward “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.” ...
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[Altiplano: The Traveler, an expansion for Altiplano, is featured in this issue. For those not familiar with Altiplano itself, we "flashback" to how we saw it in the Spring 2018 issue of Gamers Alliance Report.] Reviewed by Herb Levy FLASHBACK: ALTIPLANO (dlp Games/Renegade Games, 2 to 5 players, ages 12 and ...
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Reviewed by Greg J. Schloesser HALLOWEEN (Quined Games, 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and up, 60-90 minutes; $69.95) I have always been a fan of horror stories, novels and films. For some reason, I enjoy the tense, impending doom atmosphere that they usually evoke, including the nervous "butterflies" in ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy HOLDING ON: THE TROUBLED LIFE OF BILLY KERR (Hub Games/Asmodee, 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, 45-60 minutes; $39.99) Just when you think you've seen every theme that could possibly serve as the basis for a game, along comes something that proves you wrong ...
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Reviewed by Chris Wray JUST ONE (Repos Production, 3 to 7 players, ages 8 and up, 20 minutes; about $20) Just One is a cooperative party game by Ludovic Roudy and Bruno Sautter for 3-7 players. Released at Essen 2018, the game seemed to immediately catch fire among word game ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy KOI (Smirk & Dagger Games, 1 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, 40-60 minutes; $39.95) To relax, to feel tranquility wash over you like a wave over sand, what a wonderful feeling! Wonderful except when you are a koi fish seeking a delicious meal of ...
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Reviewed by Joe Huber LIFT OFF (Hans im Gluck/Z-Man Games, 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and up, 60-90 minutes; $59.99) For me, one of the joys of the board game hobby is looking through the new releases for Essen. It’s really a unique pleasure – the only other convention ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy LINCOLN (PSC Games/Worthington Games, 2 players, ages 14 and up, 60-120 minutes; $45) One of the most popular historical themes for games is the American Civil War. This conflict split the United States of America in two with the Union forces of the North thrust into ...
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Reviewed by Kevin Whitmore OBSESSION (Kayenta Games, 1 to 4 players, ages 13 and up, 30-90 minutes; $54) Obsession is an enjoyable new game released in 2018 by first-time author Dan Hallagan and published by his own Kayenta Publishing company. Obsession is a large boxed game, similar in size to ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy RAILROAD RIVALS (Forbidden Games, 1 to 5 players, ages 8 and up, 45-60 minutes; $49.99) One of the factors accounting for the tremendous growth of the United States during the 19th century was the rise of railroads. This method of transportation was crucial in developing the ...
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Reviewed by Pevans ROSENBERG TRILOGY: COTTAGE GARDEN, INDIAN SUMMER, SPRING MEADOW (Edition Spielwiese/Stronghold Games, 1 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, 60 or less minutes; $59.95 each) Somewhere along the way, I completely missed Uwe Rosenberg’s Patchwork. Probably because it’s a two-player game. I first became aware of it ...
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Reviewed by Andrea "Liga" Ligabue SCORPIUS FREIGHTER (Alderac Entertainment Group [AEG], 2 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, 45-75 minutes; $59.99) It’s been almost 100 years since the Scorpius system was settled. Sentients came from everywhere to start a new life, following their dreams of prosperity and adventure. The ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy SPEAKEASY BLUES (Artana Games, 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, 45-60 minutes; $60) The "Roaring Twenties" wasn't called that for nothing! In the 1920s when Prohibition was the law and folks were prevented from easily getting their favorite alcoholic beverages, many rebelled against this ...
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Reviewed by Herb Levy VALPARAISO (dlp Games, 2 to 5 players, ages 12 and up, 45-90 minutes; € 49.95) The lifeblood of all countries is trade. So it was with Chile when, in 1811, the Chilean Congress voted for free trade and, soon after, independence. As Chilean citizens of influence, ...
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