2D6

The State of 2D6.org

ncassidy — Tue, 04 May 2010 16:32:23 +0000

If you’ve been wondering “where’s the new content lately?”, here’s a short explanation…

Since the middle of May, most of Ashly and my efforts have been going into determining what the next step after graduation entails. We’ve decided that we’re moving to Denver Colorado, and as such, have been pretty busy wrapping up our lives in Bloomington Indiana. Between finishing graduate work, finding future employment, packing, and wrapping up projects with our current employers, we’ve been left with very little time to play board games, let alone produce reviews.

As much as we love to produce video content, each edit takes somewhere between 8 and 12 hours to complete given the nature and quality of the reviews, and we just don’t have the time to organize shoots / pour over edits. With that being said, we will be producing new reviews in the near future, but dependent on our employment situation, we’ll probably stick to written reviews, tutorials, and articles. So until we touch down comfortably in our new place, I hope that written content will suffice for the time being.

Thanks,
-Nick Cassidy

March Giveaway Results

ncassidy — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:10:02 +0000

As mentioned already, this month’s giveaway was brought to you in part by:

There were roughly one hundred entries to win a copy of Warhammer: Invasion in this months giveaway. Instead of doing a video to proclaim the winner, this month, I figured that we would just do it the old fashioned way.

And the winner of the 2D6.org / Myriad Games March great game giveaway is… *drum roll*…

- David Crochet -

On behalf of 2D6.org and Myriad Games, congratulations to David and a big thanks to those of you that participated in this month’s giveaway. Be sure to keep an eye out for future giveaways, as well as upcoming board game reviews, tutorials, and articles.

5 Board Games for Couples

ncassidy — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:19:45 +0000

Some time ago, Ashly and I were sitting around the apartment, trying to find something engaging to do that didn’t involve sitting in front of the TV. Having been an avid board game on an extended vacation from the hobby, I thought that perhaps grabbing a gateway board game or two could provide a good change of pace. Ten months later, we can safely say that we’ve played a considerable amount of games together, many of which were 2 player focused. Of the games that we’ve played, enjoyed, and continued to play together, the following games are our current favorites.

Given our short list (that includes games with varying mechanics), in our eyes, we’ve arranged the list from least to most complex / difficult to initially learn.

San Juan:

San Juan is a card game adaptation of the famed Puerto Rico, and plays particularly well with 2 players. Although San Juan does not incorporate all of the depth of Puerto Rico, many of the moving parts are in tact, while still providing a fun experience in a relatively short amount of time. If you or your significant other are interested in a highly accessible, filler gateway game that introduces the main concepts of Puerto Rico, San Juan may fit the bill.

Lord of the Rings: Confrontation:

As long as your significant other doesn’t have any adverse feelings toward high fantasy themed games, Lord of the Rings: Confrontation may be the perfect short duration, 2 player game that you’ve been looking for. Much like Stratego, Confrontation incorporates a hidden unit mechanic that keeps players guessing where an opponents strengths and weakness are located on the board. However, unlike Stratego, Confrontation incorporates a different assortment of unit abilities and game ending conditions, that drastically sets it apart from the classic.

Stone Age:

When deciding to play a worker placement game that takes roughly an hour or less to play, and won’t cause mental exhaustion after a hard day at work, Stone Age is our game of choice. Between acquiring materials to build structures, producing tool upgrades for material collection bonuses, and keeping your tribe fed, Stone Age does a very good job of maintaining theme, while providing “gamey” player progression. Stone Age does incorporate a fare amount of luck, but in our mind, not enough to outweigh the strategic decisions made throughout the game.

Caylus:

If the luck factor of Stone Age turns you off, and you’re looking for a step up in complexity and duration, Caylus may be more your speed. Highly regarded as one of the gamers game, Caylus incorporates a fair amount of player interaction and strategic longevity. Unlike Stone Age, Caylus will require a much heavier time investment in order to grasp the game beyond the fundamentals, and should be considered a different beast. If you and your significant other can work through the complexity, and enjoy the worker placement mechanic, you won’t be disappointed.

Tigris and Euphrates:

I’m not going to sugar coat this one. Tigris, like Caylus, incorporates a fair amount of strategy that will not become apparent until you’ve played the game several times. That being said, if the two of you are up for the challenge, want to try something with a considerable amount of confrontation, and are interested in experiencing a set of cohesive game mechanics that work very well together, Tigris and Euphrates can’t miss. In all honestly, out of all of games that Ashly and I play these days, Tigris seems to be the one that hits the table time and time again.

If any of our recommendations have peaked your interest, we encourage you to do a bit of own your research. If your personal favorite 2 player games didn’t make our list, let us know about them! We’re interested in your recommendations.

-Nick Cassidy

March Giveaway – Warhammer: Invasion

ncassidy — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:41:45 +0000

Each month, Myriad Games and 2D6.org team up to give away great games…

For this month’s giveaway, we’ve decided go with a newer living card game series that’s been on our radar for a while now. The game that I’m referring to is Warhammer: Invasion. Whether you’re interested in adding the game to your own collection, or want to give it to a friend, we encourage you to enter to win this month’s giveaway.

How do I enter?
If you haven’t already, register an account with us. Once registered, head over to the discussion forum and reply to the thread: “March Giveaway – Warhammer: Invasion” with the phrase “Myriad Games is the Bee’s Knees”. That’s all there is to it!

Take note that, you must reply to the forum thread in order to enter to win the giveaway. Commenting on this article does not count – although we do invite you to comment on this article, as we would any other article found on the site.

When will the winners be chosen?
The duration of the giveaway will persist for one week – Wednesday, March 24th to Wednesday the 31st. On March 31st, one winner will be randomly selected from those that have properly entered the giveaway. Upon being selected, the winner will be contacted and must respond within 24 hours. If contact has not be made within 24 hours, another winner will be randomly selected.

So what are you waiting for? Enter to win a great game courtesy of Myriad Games and 2D6.org!

Pandemic Tutorial

ncassidy — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:15:25 +0000

With a video duration under 4 minutes, this tutorial focuses on teaching the bare essentials necessary for playing Pandemic. It’s our hope that, in no time flat, the tutorial will ease you through the learning curve and into some cooperative, disease curing goodness. Enjoy!

Narration By: Nicholas Cassidy
Instructional Design By: Ashly Simmons and Nicholas Cassidy
Edited By: Nicholas Cassidy
Production Notes: Nick’s head found it’s way in the shot a couple of times. Oops.

*Make note that, as long as the players in question are at the same location, they can also trade cards during their turn (as an action) – Courtesy of pixelpusher7

February Giveaway Results

ncassidy — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:08:49 +0000

As mentioned already, this month’s giveaway was brought to you in part by:

In this month’s giveaway, one hundred and twenty-three folks entered to win a copy of Settlers of Catan. Sadly, there can only be one!

Without further ado, the winner of the 2D6.org / Myriad Games February great game giveaway is….

On behalf of 2D6.org and Myriad Games, congratulations to this month’s winner and a big thanks to those of you that participated in this month’s giveaway. Be sure to keep an eye out for future giveaways, as well as upcoming board game reviews and tutorials.

February Giveaway – Settlers of Catan

ncassidy — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:40:57 +0000

Each month, Myriad Games and 2D6.org team up to give away great games…

For this month’s giveaway, we’ve decided go with a classic game that tends to entice both veterans and new gamers alike. The game that I’m referring to is of course, Settlers of Catan! Whether your ambition is to add this classic game to a swelling collection, or to give your winnings to a friend, we encourage you to enter to win this month’s giveaway.

How do I enter?
If you haven’t already, register an account with us. Once registered, head over to the discussion forum and reply to the thread: “February Giveaway – Settlers of Catan” with the phrase “Myriad Games is the cat’s meow” (yes, this is an attempt to get our sponsor to blush profusely). That’s all there is to it! Sit back and cross your fingers.

When will the winners be chosen?
The duration of the giveaway will persist for one week – Friday, February 5th to the 12th. On February 12th, one winner will be randomly selected from those that have properly entered the giveaway. Upon being selected, the winner will be contacted and must respond within 24 hours. If contact has not be made within 24 hours, another winner will be randomly selected.

So what are you waiting for? Enter to win a great game courtesy of Myriad Games and 2D6.org!

Tobago Review

ncassidy — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:51:50 +0000

Unlike any game that we’ve played before, Tobago incorporates a location-deduction mechanic that requires each player to lay a series of cards in order to isolate where a given treasure is NOT. Now you may be asking yourself, “how is that useful?” Well… as my primary school math teacher would say while in between swigs of brandy from his flask (true story), “finding where something is not, allows you to deduce where something is!” As much as I may disagreed with the fellows methods, his tutelage would better prepare me for hours of alcohol induced fun with this week’s game.

Behold, the treasure scrounging, ale consuming, 2D6 review of Tobago by: Rio Grande games.

Review Cast: Travis Ross, Emily Ross, Ashly Simmons, and Matthew Falk.
Filmed By: Nicholas Cassidy.
Edited By: Ashly Simmons
Production Notes: We had a few beers during this shoot – yeah I didn’t lie. Instead of making us more talkative, the alcohol seems to have made us a bit tired. We promise to be more peppy during our next review!

Our Review:
Craftsmanship: 4.5 / 5
Accessibility: 4 / 5
Gameplay: 4 / 5
Replayability: 4 / 5
Final Verdict: Buy it – especially if you’re looking for a game to play with family.

Other Tobago reviews that we enjoyed:
“SdJ? Not quite…“ By: Steve Oksienik
“ A Great Family Game“ By: Mary Weisbeck

Dominion Tutorial

ncassidy — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:00:06 +0000

Located below is our first crack at our brand of bare essential tutorials. Future tutorials will include larger resolution / higher quality pictures (such that the entire screen is filled) and a 3D motion graphic intro. If there are other areas in which you believe we could improve upon, please don’t hesitate to let us know!

Narration By: Nicholas Cassidy
Instructional Design By: Ashly Simmons and Nicholas Cassidy
Edited By: Ashly Simmons

*Make note that a player’s initial hand includes estate cards that come from the excess estates. NOT from the setup supply! – Courtesy of Jake Di Torro

Summoner Wars Review

ncassidy — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 06:26:12 +0000

We had originally meant to release the Summoner Wars review before heading out of town for the holiday, but family and travel had a ruthless habit of intervening. Before all of the hustle and bustle, a portion of the 2D6 staff had a chance to get together and have a six person double, elimination tournament – which incorporated both of the currently available player sets. As usual, there was a fair amount of the swearing coming from Matt’s side of the room. Surprisingly, I think that Emily may have been the culprit.

Having delayed enough already, I present you with the 2D6 review of Summoner Wars by: Plaid Hat Games.

Review Cast: Ashly Simmons, Austin Lord, Emily Ross, Matthew Falk, Nicholas Cassidy, and Travis Ross,.
Filmed By: Ashly Simmons, Austin Lord, and Nicholas Cassidy.
Edited By: Nicholas Cassidy
Production Notes: The Summoner Wars play footage was captured while playing a six person, single elimination tournament. My apologies for the siren and car horn that are audible during the review.

Our Review:
Craftsmanship: 3 / 5
Accessibility: 4 / 5
Gameplay: 4 / 5
Replayability: 3 / 5
Final Verdict: Buy it – if you believe that it will scratch an incessant card gaming itch.

Other Summoner Wars reviews that we enjoyed:
“10 Kinds of People: those who like Summoner Wars, and those who don’t“ By: James Sitz
“ Once More, with Feeling“ By: Chris Schenck