New York Slice

Everyone likes pizza right?

Well what about cardboard pizza? Its cheaper, less calories and looks just as appetizing.

New York Slice is a brilliant little game brought to us by Bezier Games wherein players draft and collects pizza slices to earn points. That may need clarifying for some of you: drafting refers to picking from a selection of items, in this case pizza slices, in order to utilise or combine them. New York Slice is a very simple game right out of the oven and makes for a great experience no matter what your exposure to board games is.

When setting up New York Slice first shuffle the pizza slices and place them face down, slices will have different toppings like peppers, anchovies, mushrooms, pepperoni etc, along with numbers at the bottom ranging from 3 to 11.Shuffle the specials and place them face down next to the face down slices.

The active player, known as the slicer, takes 11 pizza slices and makes a whole pizza with them, they also take one of the specials to place after slicing the pizza, the slicer then divides the pizza they have created into sections equal to the number of players there are - they cant rearrange any of the slices when placing or slicing the pizza. Lastly, the slicer puts the special on one of the sections of the sliced pizza. The player to the slicers left gets first choice at which section they would like to take, this continues clockwise with the rest of the players until making its way back to the slicer who chooses last.

(Player 1 in this scenario is the slicer, so player 2 gets first choice rotating clockwise.)

The aim of the game, as in any set collector, is to collect sets. This may sound easy but the challenge in New York Slice comes in how the slicer divides up the pizza: The created pizza will consist of varied and matching numbers, so if any matching numbers are close enough together you may think that you want to divide the pizza so that those matching numbers are in the same section. Remember though, you as the slicer will get whats left over after all other players have chosen, so that may end up being a bad idea as you would give another player a good chance of collecting the most of a certain number. The slicer will have placed a special onto one of the sections, whichever player chooses that section gets the special that can give you a bonus like additional points or tie breakers, be careful though as they can also be a detriment to you. 

After a player has chosen which section they would like to take they then have the option of eating any of those slices. If they choose to eat any those slices are places face down in a stack off to one side and aren't counted towards sets at the end of the game. The reason for eating slices comes in the points scoring at the end: The amount of pepperoni pieces on any pizzas you have eaten counteracts any points lost for any anchovies you have on your pizza. Whichever player has the most 3's at the end of the game gets 3 points, the same is true for numbers 4-11.

New York Slice is played over a number of round equal to the amount of full pizzas you can create and with 69 slices you're going to be playing at least 6 rounds. Because of that there is a substantial amount of gameplay involved in New York Slice and the simplistic style and rules will keep players coming back again and again. The thing that did it for me is the design of the smallest details, usually the focus is on the game, how it plays, the writing and setting, component detail. But the detail I'm talking about it the way New York Slice is presented: The game box is a pizza box with a flip lid which then reveals the game pieces and rule book, which is a menu with a triple flap opening. The score pad is a check and the specials are tiny little chalk boards like you would see in a real New York pizzeria, all of this really stands out for me the designers had an idea in mind and ran with it, really paying off in my opinion. Even down to the imagery on the pizza slices mattering (in other games it would've just been decoration), and the way its shown so realistically to the point of it making me genuinely hungry.

The main mechanic of drafting pizza gives players a lot of choice when they are trying to plan ahead, but slicing up the pizza is probably the hardest part: you may notice a player has multiple 6's but isn't going to win the race to the 10's, so you might want divide the pizza up in such a way that any 6's and 10's sit together to try and dissuade that player from picking that section. Or there might be some anchovies lying around so you might want to put any 6's and anchovies together so that when that section is picked that player will lose points at the end of the game. Dividing up the pizza is an art, one that could show up in other games (probably just lacking the pizza) and New York Slice is a good way of getting to grips with the nuances and subtleties of enticing a player one way when in actual fact its the worst choice they could make.

New York Slice is a nice game to have on your gaming shelf for players of all ages, the theme appeals to everyone - as everyone on earth likes pizza and if you don't then you're the weird one. It's a well designed and brilliantly presented 45 minutes that, after the taste of the first game, players will want to play a second and even a third time. New York Slice is one game that given a small taste i can guarantee players will enjoy every part of it both individually and as a whole, so get down to your local games store and ask for a demo and then maybe head to a pizzeria afterwards as you will have a certain meat, sauce and dough pie on the brain.

Keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming new and updates, along with possible dinner plan ideas for the future.

Social Deduction

Have you ever looked at your friends and thought they were acting a bit suspicious? Ever contemplated if they were trying to sabotage, or worse, kill you? Sneaking around, coming up with half baked excuses, or maybe you followed them once in an attempt to catch them out and expose them as the next Hitler, in which case you maybe going a bit to deep into this and you should probably eject before you get arrested, but I digress. Maybe you fancy yourself as a solid liar and if so this could be the article for you.

Escape The Dark Castle

A dark, dingy place infested with god knows what. Rats scurry past your feet, the stench of death lingers in the air and, as the last flickering torch peters out, your belief in salvation from this place peters out with it. But enough about the Job Centre. 

Port Royal

Adventuring on the high seas comes with trials and tribulations. The brave head out to travel the world and see what it has to offer but some adventurers never return. Luckily though, you are one of the few that did return and do so laden with goods. 

Shadespire

A long, long time ago, all the way back in the seventies, three guys created a company called Games Workshop. You may have heard of GW, they’re best known for Warhammer: a miniatures tabletop war game in which players battle their armies against each other over various terrain. They’ve also brought us Bloodbowl - a fantasy football miniatures game with the emphasis on fantasy - and Talisman - an underwhelming dice and move game. 

City Of Zombies

There was a time when zombies were everywhere. I guess with the whole horde thing they have going on that would be beneficial for them, but it did seem that you couldn’t shamble anywhere without running into zombies. Multiple films, video games, art work, literature, the list goes on and on. Zombies are also no stranger to board games featuring in such games as Zombicide, Last Night On Earth and Dead Of Winter.

Love Letter

Imagine a royal family, all regal with lavish clothes and huge banquets, taking high tea and throwing incredibly expensive balls. The problem with all families, no matter how royal they are, is that they always have secrets and problems, usually with each other, and this family is no different. They can be at each other’s throats or maybe take a sneakier approach but either way one will come out on top, think Game Of Thrones, but with more class and subtlety.

Boss Monster

 

Why do you think it was that Bowser hated Mario? Constantly foiling his attempts to steal the princess or retrieving said princess, storming his castle and wrecking up the place? Whatever the reason I’m sure we can all empathize with his grievances in some form, kind of, and now there’s a game where Bowser could enact his revenge on that smarmy plumber in the most gruesome ways he could think of.

Lightseekers

There has been some buzzing of late in the TCG community about a game called Lightseekers, and today I'm going to be taking a look at it for you guys.

Christmas Party Pack - Adults

Party games are always a great option for those times when the energy has gotten a bit low and people need a pick me up. Today I’m going to look at three games that are guaranteed to do just that, with or without alcohol, and get that party started again. Although you may want to avoid playing these with your parents.

Dominion

Deck builders are a big market for board games. Any game that gives players access to a pool of cards and the freedom to pick and choose which ones they want to utilise to put in their deck is an obvious hit.

Christmas Party Pack - Kids

 

As we edge closer and closer to the Christmas period some of you out there may be looking for ways to keep the family happy and laughing over the holidays. Today I’m going to be looking at three games that will entertain and delight any little ones out there in dire need of things to do in between writing there unfeasibly expensive and incredibly long Christmas lists and waiting for all of those presents to arrive.

Magic Maze

Sometimes the lines between fantasy and reality get blurred a bit. What seems extraordinary and weirdly intriguing can sometimes turn out to be more mundane upon closer inspection, like electricity or a rainbow.

Game Of Thrones: Westeros Intrigue

 

I like Game of Thrones. I love the fantasy setting, the characters and maybe best of all the story. This may sound a bit silly as most of the world seems to be on the same page when it comes to GoT that's the reason its one of the biggest TV shows right now, the problem that comes with having a show so big is that everyone wants a piece of the action.

Get Bit!

When creating a game its easy to get a bit too into it and over design causing more complexity and making the game more intimidating.
Get Bit is a card game that has taken the minimalist route of design only having seven playing pieces and a deck of cards to illustrate the simplistic gameplay aspects.

DC Deck Building Game

DC Deck Building Game

 

If you like your Super Heroes, then I'm sure this is right up your alley.

The DC Card Game is a collectible card game (CCG), wherein you use heroes to take down the villains along with their maniacal regime. The core of the game centers around the Justice League, with heroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, along with many of their super allies. There are different card types that you will come across, some start in your opening hand, such as Punches and Vulnerabilities, but more on those later. You will encounter many of the arch nemeses of the DC universe, in the form of Villain cards including; Bane, Poison Ivy and the Suicide Squad. Along with Super-Villain cards like Ra's Al Ghul and everyone's favorite grease painted, colourful psychopath, The Joker. 

Fear not though, because these villainous foes can be combated with another card type, Super Powers. Ranging from a humble Kick to X-Ray vision, these cards offer more resources as you square off against whatever rival rears their nefarious heads. Other card types include Locations and Weaknesses, so with acception to flavour, the art of the game doesn't really have any affect on the actual game play. However, this means you can expand your story told through the game. By having expansions like the DC Crisis and DC crossover Legion of Super-Heroes packs, and other core game sets like Teen Titans or Forever Evil, merging all of these together allows players to have a plethora of Heroes and Villains to play with. Utilizing each skill of those heroes against their adversary to save the day once again.

On with the game, and you start by randomly dealing out a Super-Hero card to each player. These Super-Heroes have effects throughout the game, for example regarding the amount of cards you played that turn giving you a Power bonus like Aqua man.  Now you shuffle the Main deck, containing cards types such as; Hero, Location, Equipment, non Kick Super-Power and Villain cards, the last two sometimes coming with additional effects that are represented on the card. Place the Main deck at one end of the play area and leave room for a line up of five cards next to it. At the other end, past the line up, put the stack of Super-Villains you're playing against, with a stack of Weaknesses one side and a stack of Kicks, that I mentioned earlier, on the other. Your starting deck contains seven Punch cards, serving as your primary resource, and three Vulnerability cards, serving the sole purpose to dilute your deck to prevent drawing all action, all the time. At the end of your turn, after you've made your plays and purchased your chosen cards, all of those along with your hand are put into your graveyard. You then draw a new hand of five cards, replace any empty slots in the line up from the top of the Main deck if any cards were purchased, and pass the turn to the next player.

The aim of the game is to use the Power on the cards you have in your personal deck to buy other cards from the Main deck's lineup, the cost of that card represented in the bottom right hand corner, then use those to defeat the Super-Villains. Different cards have different amounts of Power to be gained, for example the Punch cards you start have +1 Power. So, if you draw four Punch cards, you can play them all and have +4 Power to buy any amount of cards from the lineup costing up to four. Either one card costing four Power or two cards each costing two Power if that's available. Cards that you can obtain from the lineup will have +Power and other effects, giving you a bit of variety to play with, or if all else fails you can just by a Kick card that has +2 Power. Eventually, when you run out of cards to draw from your personal deck, you will shuffle your graveyard and it will become your new deck, ensuring that you will get to use your new cards soon.

You win the game when either you have defeated all Super-Villains, by which I mean purchase them in the same way you would any card in the line up, the only difference is they don't get put into your graveyard. Or if you cannot fill the five spaces in the line up. When this happens, players count the number of Victory Points on the cards in their decks, represented by the number in the star. Weaknesses, obtained due to negative effects of cards played or bought, subtract Victory Points. The highest total of Victory Points wins.

The crux of the game is the sculpting of your deck. This game can be played in a team or all on all, so sometimes you might be trying to find cards that have certain bonuses in certain locations or against specific Heroes. At other times you might be looking for things that give you and only you a boost and leaving other cards that may work better for another member in your party.

The core game play is reminiscent of drafting in MTG; picking and choosing the best cards to work in your deck to get maximum value out of them. So if you enjoy drafting and are looking for games that resemble it, like this or Dominion, a game that I'm sure ill take a look at soon, or if you're like me and you're looking to improve your drafting skills, look in the direction of the DC Card Game.

This is a fun game to play with two people and even better with a group of friends. The strategies that you can employ vary so much that it's always a new and interesting experience.

Hopefully this has given you a look into the world of CCG's and I'll be taking a look at other CCG's and Table Top games in the weeks to come. 

In the mean time, keep checking back to Game Changers for more updates.