Monday, November 06, 2006

Game Order Arrived


The games arrived today. I have opened them all, punched counters, counted bits, and inspected boards. Once again, I am happy to report that there was not a single piece missing. But, as usual, I have a few things to say about the components...

Colossal Arena: Standard small FFG Silver Line box. The cards are nice but completely uncoated. The betting markers are much nicer than they could have been. Rating: C

Gloria Mundi: The box and insert are ridiculous. The board and cards are very nice. The wooden bits are miniscule. I am surprised a RGG game uses hollow plastic pawns. Shame on you. Rating: B

Himalaya: Thick cardboard counters, nicely punched. The wooden cubes are a slight step down from normal painted cubes. A reasonable board. Two small cloth bags and a bunch of plastic ones. It's going to take some work to get all the plastic bits off the frames. Rating: B+

Mission: Red Planet: There was a lot of fuss on BGG over the quality of this one. All of the complaints are manifest in the game, but not to the degree I expected. The one real bummer is the insert; I hate throwing them away, but there's no saving this one; there's just too much stuff to fit into the ridiculously designed compartment. I think the boards are going to rip apart some day soon. The wooden discs are the same size as those in Gloria Mundi: miniscule. Rating: B-

Taj Mahal: Fortunately, the one game I've been waiting for for over 2 years is the best. The only criticism I have is that the space for the octagonal numbered tiles (1-12) is too shallow to fit all 12. The insert was custom made for the game, so I can only assume the cardboard ended up being thicker than they expected. Rating: A


Taj Mahal image by garyjames

2 Comments:

At 12:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Looking forward to reading your impressions on Himalaya...its been on and off my 'to-buy' list for months.

 
At 10:57 PM, Blogger ekted said...

The insert is the plastic base that fits in the box meant to hold all the pieces and the boards. The only game where you need to keep the punched counter sheets is Magna Grecia.

 

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