Beer with Cards (or is that Cards with Beer?)
First up, I have received my edition of Craft Beer Brewer by Bazcardz (via Gamecrafter). A nicely produced little card game, the aim is to end up with the highest number of points by brewing the best beer you can. With cards.
OK, it's a bit more than that. You get a Yeast card and five random ingredient cards. Over four turns, you discard and replace your cards to build a beer that has to have a Yeast with compatible Malt and Hops cards. Additional points can be earned for having suitable Flavour and Brewing cards. Community cards can also be used, but watch out for the "Ale Fail" cards that introduce problems into your brewing and, more importantly, cost you points. The person with the highest number of points at the end of turn four is judged to have brewed the best beer. You also get to name your beer and at that point, well, it's your imagination.
It sounds simple but it is a fun game to play in short bursts, especially if you're drinking beer at the same time. The real benefit of the game is that it is also educational and with several playthroughs, you'll start to learn more about beer brewing than you thought possible whilst playing a card game. It's pretty much obvious who this game is aimed for and it has provided a few interesting hypothetical beers whilst more mainstream bottled beer has been consumed. If you fancy trying this game out, you can purchase it from Gamecrafter here. You can also follow the game's creator on Facebook here, where you'll also find a brief YouTube video that explains the game more fully.
Reviewing games should be fun... shouldn't it?
My most recent review for Retrovidegamer is The Perfect General for the 3DO. It wasn't supposed to be that game though. No, it was supposed to be Flying Nightmares for the same console. Nominally a flight sim based on the Harrier (it seems to be based on the previous Domark title AV-8B Harrier Assault), this is a terrible game. Confusing and complicated controls, poor responsiveness to control input and a horrendous difficulty level, it's just not fun to play. After several hours I had had enough. To hell with it. These things should have some level of enjoyment and that was sorely lacking here. I am not one who gets angry whilst playing videogames and I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I have never thrown a controller down but I came close with this one. Flying Nightmares? More like F*****g Nightmares! And no, I am never going back to it.
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| Avoid this title like the plague... |
With the current situation, I have been fortunate enough to be able to work from home, as has my good lady. What this has meant, however, is that I have started to rattle through my reading pile at a vast rate of knots as out of house activities are limited to the odd walk and a trip to the shops. After all, there is only so much television one can deal with and I find reading a very comfortable alternative. Recent titles have included A J Venter's "Battle for Angola", Leopold Scholtz's "The SADF in the Border War", James Barr's "Lords of the Desert" and Cary Elwes' As You Wish. The latter, an unexpected present from my good lady, is a whimsical and funny tome about the making of The Princess Bride - arguably one of the most perfect movies ever made. If you've never read the original book by William Goldman, you should. Never seen the film? Inconceivable! And once you have read or seen either of those, buy "As You Wish". Next off the reading pile is something closer to home (geographically), George MacDonald Fraser's "The Steel Bonnets".
Videogaming
Finally, onto that other relaxing past time, playing videogames for pleasure. Over the last couple of months, I've managed a replay of Mass Effect's 1 and 2. A good time was had and a realisation that whilst ME 1 was a good start to the trilogy, ME 2 really did get a whole lot better, in story, characterisation and presentation. Following those two came Bioshock and Bioshock 2, the latter of which I am still progressing through now. Old games, to be sure, but still very playable and entertaining. Not something I could really say about quite a few modern day titles, especially those with a focus on online play. That's just me though. On the side, there is Cold Waters, a PC based Cold War submarine simulator that's proving challenging and rather fun.
Speaking of old games though, I have finally put the money down for a Blaze Evercade handheld console. With an eye firmly on licensed emulated versions of dozens of retro titles released on cartridges (how quaint...), this has had my attention since it was announced. You can find out more about it via the link above and make your own mind up, but for me, it ticks the retro box in a nice, legal package. With a release window between May 22 and the middle of June, I'll let you know what I think of it when mine is delivered.
And so, back to The Steel Bonnets. If you're never read any MacDonald Fraser before, certainly give the Flashman series a go. The Pyrates is also a hoot and his non-fiction work is similarly good. Until next time...
