Board Game Review: Catchy Tagline

Intent: To open my mind and and share with you how I review games.

One of my goals for this website was to convince people to try and play board games, so it would only be fitting that I share and review the games I come across. The purpose for this blog is to give a rundown of the methodology and format I will be using to review the board games that I play. This is meant to create consistencies and allow you to compare my thoughts across different games and genres as well.

Let’s dive right in!

Opening paragraph. This is what the game is about and the general feel for it. I will talk about who designed it and who it is published by, as well as share who was responsible for the artwork. A one liner to draw you in with the player count will be mentioned as well.

Overview

Here I will introduce you to this game, giving you the first insight of what you can expect when you play this game. I will talk about the theme and how you proceed to win, as well as provide details of what genre this game is, what mechanics you will see and if and how competitive this game will be. I will likely connect this game to a feeling or a memory I have as well.

First Game Impression

I will proceed to give you a rundown of my experience playing this game for the first time. I will explain what caught my eye, any surprises I encountered and how I felt throughout the first play-through. I will also share some of the things I found frustrating or struggled with and will have to keep an eye on as I keep playing. I don’t want to dive too much into the game as a first impression is only a glimpse of the game.

Thoughts After Five Games

I put tremendous value on reviewers who really take their time in a game, playing it numerous times to ensure they capture and understand the full feel of the game. I want to ensure that I emulate those practices. I often see posts where people have come back to a game and fell in love with it even though the first couple of times may not have intrigued them, so I want to ensure I play a game at least five times to give it an honest thorough try before I share my entire experience with you.

I will share how each game progressed and how I felt about the game and collective experience following my plays. I will comment on how long it took me to grasp concepts and fully understand the entirety of the game (and if I even do after the fifth playthrough).

I’ll talk about what I really enjoyed, what stood out and items I will have to keep an eye on or just find frustrating. I’ll be as honest as genuine as I can be, while fulfilling my goal of inspiring you to play games. Don’t expect a ton of negativity. My worst criticism is going to be advice on how to make the game better or wishful thinking for expansions, I strongly believe there’s an audience for each game and that each game will have someone who will find it to be their favorite game. I never want to put down someone’s favorite game.

Don’t get me wrong though. There is always room to improve and I will provide my thoughts on how I believe a game can be better and ways I maybe even disagree with the game.

MERIT Report Card

Overall Letter Grade: A

This will be a combination of all the letter grades averaged out. Here’s a rubric of what each letter means for me:

A: This game is fantastic! I would highly recommend it and often talk about it and use it as a way to draw people into the hobby. I’m counting on this game to be requested often and to hit the table consistently and continue to wow individuals. It exceeds expectations and is easy to understand, visually appealing, accessible, memorable and you learn quite a lot from it. Very little to none critiques and areas of improvement. I always want to play this game.

B: This game is great. It hits the marks and provides a great experience overall. This will hit the table often and most people we introduce this game to will generally like this game. Overall it is generally easy to understand, visually appealing, accessible, memorable and you learn a fair bit. Some areas of improvement and critiques but nothing too major. I usually want to play this.

C: This game is fine. It is not for everyone but definitely has some good elements. It will hit the table occasionally with specific individuals and based on the gut feel that day. It may not be a favorite but it’s still a solid game for specific circumstances whether it fits a theme night or has a specific mechanic not often seen in other games that I love coming back to. It doesn’t quite meet expectations but overall is a good game that entertains and hits some of the marks. There are areas of improvements that are present in this game that are hard to miss. I’ll play this every now and then.

D: This game is okay. It is missing a crucial element. It doesn’t hit the table often and will likely not be a game I own, but it does have value and at the heart of it there is a game there that has potential. There are individuals that enjoy this game from the people I’ve played with but it is not a game I enjoy. This game does not do well in my scoring criteria but has lots of improvement that can be done. I generally will avoid playing this game but may be convinced.

F: This game is not for me. Something just does not vibe within this game. The people I play with do not enjoy this game, it simply is not a game for us but may please others. Lots of areas of improvement, to a point where the game will likely be significantly different. I not only avoid playing it but often refuse to play it all together.

Strengths: This is the best parts of the game, the elements that really stood out and why it is a great game.

Areas of Improvement: This is some of the areas I wish the game could improve on.

The M.E.R.I.T Report Card is broken down into five categories. It took a long time to narrow down the categories I want to focus in, but after much thought the final five ended up being: Memorability, Education, Replayability, Imagination and Target.

Memorability: A

This category is based on three criteria: how often do I think about the game, how often is this game brought up by the individuals I play with, and how many memories can be built from this game?

Have you ever laid in bed falling asleep and then you just start thinking about a game, whether it’s a strategy you want to try, the excitement you felt while playing it or how you wish you could play that game right now. (Is that only me?) Well, those games typically score higher in this section, they stick with you because of the unique experience they provide.

Do people I play with enjoy this game? Tylor will definitely influence this section significantly as well, if he really enjoys a game there will be a correlation to a higher score in this category. This category will be impacted by the individuals I play games with, if an experience sticks with them it will reflect on the score here.

Memories from games, those epic moments and memories will be reflected here. Often when sharing experiences with others there are stories or memories that are often reminisced about. These grand moments can occur with board games as well and those particular games will score high in this category.

Education: B+

This category is based on two criteria: What did you learn from the game? and What skills did you practice or integrate?

Some games have fantastic educational elements, learning Monarch Butterfly migration patterns from Mariposas, learning about the history of Lisboa or becoming familiar with different types of facts and trivia in Wits and Wagers. Games that give you information are wonderful because they grow your mind and not only provide an entertaining experience but leave you with a morsel of knowledge to be used at a later time.

Skills are important as well: How quick do you think under pressure? How do you negotiate with your team? How do you resolve conflict when something unfavorable happens? Games have a way to practice all sorts of important skills in a safe setting, including strengthening communication skills. You may not always be aware but there are many elements in games that force you to think critically and exercise different parts of your mind. I will draw attention to important skills that I used and learned from this process.

Replayability: A

This will discuss how replayable the game is. Is it exactly the same experience over and over? Will I get bored after a few game plays? Is there modular components? Is there variation in goals, points, and/or scenarios? How many different times can I experience this game?

There is fairly subjective element here as well of the enjoyment of playing this game over and over and I will do a thorough job explaining my reasoning for a letter grade here.

Imagination: A+

How immersed am I in the experience? Do I dive into the theme or ignore it for the most part? Is it easy to understand? Is it easy to dive into a game to create a world of imagination and embrace my inner child? Do the people I play with become immersed in the world as well? Is there space for a collective experience?

There are also many subjective elements here but I will explain my ranking thoroughly and give you some insight into my imagination and thoughts.

Target: A-

Does this game hit its marks?

This is partially based on expectations but also what the game intends to do, if the game is meant to be a light introduction game, does it meet that purpose? Does it succeed with the audience targets? Part of this section is certainly the marketing of the game, I will likely find quotes from the designer or publisher and reflect on those as I give you the reasoning behind the letter grade.

Now I wanted to give space for Ty to give his thoughts as well, think of it as an extra mini review. What a great Kovray experience!

Tylor’s Rapid Fire

This is essentially fast facts and opinions featuring Tylor. Tylor will provide his thoughts, positive features that stood out for him and maybe some reasons why he is not drawn to the game and some of his own criticisms. He will also provide a ranking: Tylor’s Stars. The following rubric will be used:

⭐ - would not recommend, personally did not have a enjoy the game;

⭐⭐ - may recommend to the right people, the game is fine overall just didn’t hit the mark for Tylor;

⭐⭐⭐- the game is worth keeping on the shelf and will definitely play it again, would recommend lightly;

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - very good game, would recommend and look forward to showing friends how to play;

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - would highly recommend; one of the games that Tylor looks forward to playing and will try to get the group to play the game every chance he gets.

Tylor is a bit of a hard marker but there’s not a whole lot of games he would not play. Five or one stars will definitely be outliers in his rankings so keep an eye for those!

Final Thoughts

This will be an overview, highlights from the entire review and who should play this game. Outgoing thoughts could include things I will keep an eye on as I keep playing this game, or any fun news from publisher potentially. Recommendations for other games if you like this game etc. A space for me to really chat with you after diving into this game.

MERIT Report Card Letter Grade: A

Tylor’s Stars: ⭐⭐⭐

One line takeaway.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you at my board game reviews. If you’ve enjoyed reading this or any content please share this along as it does help me achieve my goal of sharing my love and passion for board games.