I Played It Like Twice…

I Played It, Like, Twice

It’s Time to Raise the Curtain on the The Muppet Show Game

By Orrin Grey • September 7th, 2023

The game itself is a relic of a time when board games were something very different than they are today.

I Played It, Like, Twice

Collaborative Chaos: Being on the Top of the Heap in King of Monster Island

By Orrin Grey • August 13th, 2023

This bigger kaiju is trying to open a portal with the help of a variety of adorable minions, and the “good” kaiju need to put a stop to it.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Wacky Hijinks: Similarities and Differences in Scooby-Doo: The Board Game

By Orrin Grey • July 6th, 2023

It is also ironic that, in many ways, Scooby-Doo: The Board Game feels less like Scooby-Doo and more like a board game than Betrayal at Mystery Mansion, which was already repurposing the mechanics of another game and yet managed, in so doing, to create an almost perfect evocation of a Scooby-Doo episode.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Fleeing Fast from Freaky Fiends: Finding Fun with Fearsome Floors

By Orrin Grey • June 7th, 2023

Indeed, Fearsome Floors is one of those European imports, hailing from eccentric German game designer Friedemann Friese, whose fixation on the color green and massive use of alliteration of the letter F can sometimes get lost in translation but certainly helps to set his games apart.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

A Dark and Stormy Night: The Old Dark House Vibes of 13 Dead End Drive

By Orrin Grey • May 2nd, 2023

The traps are pretty much the game’s whole gimmick but, ironically, you don’t need any of them to play.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

A Maze of Twisty Little Passages, All Alike: Navigating the D&D Adventure System Board Games

By Orrin Grey • April 4th, 2023

Anyone who has been following along here for very long knows that dungeon tiles are one of my very favorite parts of any dungeon crawl game, and the ones for the various D&D Adventure System games have their distinctive pluses.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Keeping the Flame: Flamecraft and the Pleasing Complexity of Resource Management

By Orrin Grey • March 8th, 2023

Naturally, that’s a bit like judging a book by its cover but, as I have discussed before, the look and feel of a game is actually every bit as important as how it plays.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

A Whole New World of Warcraft: The Board Game

By Orrin Grey • February 14th, 2023

Innumerable brightly-colored miniatures and a cartographic board making it all seem reminiscent of a fantasy game of Risk.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Unexpected Joys in Small Packages in Warhammer Quest: Lost Relics

By Orrin Grey • January 23rd, 2023

Lost Relics feels a bit more like a game of chess (albeit played against the board) than a standard dungeon crawl.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Versus Mode: Myth x Bardsung

By Orrin Grey • November 30th, 2022

Both Bardsung and Myth are dungeon-crawl games at the high end of the complexity scale, but that’s where the surface similarities end.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

2 Massive 2 Darkness: When Your Darkness is Maybe a Little Too Big

By Orrin Grey • November 2nd, 2022

As much as I love a good dungeon crawl game, much of the time they are too big for me.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Offensive Stereotypes: Monster Mayhem Rises from the Crypt… But Maybe Shouldn’t

By Orrin Grey • September 30th, 2022

Despite its cartoony demeanor, Monster Mayhem is no different from White Wolf’s RPGs, and its approach is… not exactly sensitive, even for 2007.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Getting in the Fight: Rivet Wars of Old and New

By Orrin Grey • September 9th, 2022

This is a steampunk setting with walking tanks. That’s the big selling point here.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

I Guess No One’s Coming: The Art and Arithmetic of Hidden Leaders

By Orrin Grey • August 15th, 2022

Hidden Leaders is one of those games that is deceptively basic but can grow strangely complex as you play.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Fragged!: Translating DOOM to the Tabletop via a Somewhat Unlikely Route

By Orrin Grey • July 26th, 2022

Despite the box art and the demonic miniatures, DOOM is fundamentally an action game that isn’t particularly interested in horror.

I Played It Like Twice...

Burning the Torch at Both Ends: Peril Comes in Small Packages in Tiny Epic Dungeons

By Orrin Grey • June 6th, 2022

These are minuscule board games that come in boxes about the size of the ones you used to get checkbooks in, back when anybody had checkbooks.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

We Did Warn You: Playing Horrified 2 During [checks notes] Still a Pandemic

By Orrin Grey • May 5th, 2022

The good news is, most of the winning formula that made its predecessor tick is reproduced nicely here.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Versus Mode: Batman: The Animated Series – Rogues Gallery x Sinister Six

By Orrin Grey • April 5th, 2022

To be honest, at the time I played Rogues Gallery, I had never so much as heard of Sinister Six. Once I had played them both, though, the startling similarity of their concepts was enough to make me briefly wonder if they shared a designer.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

They’re Coming Out of the Goddamn Walls: Reliving a Moment with Space Hulk

By Orrin Grey • February 28th, 2022

It is difficult, for me at least, to separate the game itself from that dream, solidified by glossy magazine photos of massive Space Hulk boards set up.

Beware of Falling Blocks: The Many Attempts to Translate Tetris to the Tabletop

By Orrin Grey • February 10th, 2022

Tetris…board games?

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Heroic Action: Defeating Evil with a Little Help from Your Friends in Marvel United

By Orrin Grey • December 16th, 2021

The feeling of teamwork is what really makes Marvel United special.

I Played It Like Twice...

For Honor and Small Plastic Rocks: Ascension’s Place in the Pantheon of Deck-Building Games

By Orrin Grey • November 18th, 2021

With so many deck-building games on the market, the aesthetic is going to be a big part of what draws a player to one over another.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Of Monsters and Mortals: Playing Campy Creatures On a Dark and Spooky Night

By Orrin Grey • October 21st, 2021

Campy Creatures is, as the box declares, a “Ghoulish Game of Deduction & Bluffing.”

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Dead Ends: Learning Something About Myself with Cursed City

By Orrin Grey • September 30th, 2021

I dove into Cursed City in the hopes that the familiarity of its similarities to Silver Tower would help to ease some of that intimidation fact, but Cursed City has more in common with Blackstone Fortress.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Candles Against the Dark: Surviving the Night (and Each Other) in Deranged

By Orrin Grey • August 26th, 2021

A character who is Deranged is normal by day but becomes a monster by night.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Shelf Stability: Good Design Gets Out of the Way in Ex Libris

By Orrin Grey • July 29th, 2021

Ex Libris looks complicated, but all the moving parts click together pretty seamlessly, and there are rarely any of those awkward moments where you’re left scratching your head over how one card mechanic interacts with another.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Rising Tension: The Odd and Appropriate Specificity of Resident Evil 2: The Board Game

By Orrin Grey • May 13th, 2021

I decided it was high time for me to crack open my copy of Resident Evil 2: The Board Game and see how it stacked up against my memories of the real thing.

I Played It Like Twice

Fearful Symmetry: Building the Best of All Possible Overworlds in Overboss

By Orrin Grey • April 1st, 2021

In a world where plenty of board games at least claim to be playable with only one person it is, in my experience, rare to find one that actually plays well in solitaire mode.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Versus Mode – Arcadia Quest x Super Dungeon Explore

By Orrin Grey • March 2nd, 2021

For the first installment of this periodic feature, we’ll be looking at Arcadia Quest and Super Dungeon Explore.

I Played It, Like, Twice…

The Moorcock Connection: Sailors on the Seas of Warhammer Quest

By Orrin Grey • February 2nd, 2021

I realized what Age of Sigmar really was: Games Workshop leaning hard into that Moorcockian strain of cosmic fantasy that had always been there.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Only Trust Your Fists: The Side-Scrolling Beat-‘em-Up Vibes of Streets of Steel

By Orrin Grey • January 6th, 2021

When Streets of Steel is at its best, it is tapping into my fondness for these types of games in a way that makes for innovative tabletop play, rather than just nostalgia.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

The Agony of Adaptation: Hellboy and the Perils of Fandom (and Kickstarter)

By Orrin Grey • December 9th, 2020

For a while there, writing about Hellboy: The Board Game, about being a Hellboy fan, and what the franchise means to me as a creator, all felt too fraught.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Darkness of Unusual Size: The Sword-and-Sorcery Answer to Descent

By Orrin Grey • November 27th, 2020

If Descent is what we’ve all come to expect from a modern high fantasy D&D-alike, then Massive Darkness is its lo-fi sword-and-sorcery equivalent.

I Played It, Like, Twice…

Shadows on the Cave Wall: Finding Clues in Scooby-Doo: Betrayal at Mystery Mansion

By Orrin Grey • October 9th, 2020

Scooby-Doo and Betrayal at House on the Hill are a match made in some kind of spooky heaven.

I Played It, Like, Twice…

Lost in the Dark: Finding My Way to Descent During the Plague Times

By Orrin Grey • September 3rd, 2020

“In a fit of COVID-induced mania and an effort to scratch that at-home D&D itch, I picked up not just Descent but several of the expansions.”

Open Up Shop: Finding a Killer Deal in Bargain Quest

By Orrin Grey • August 20th, 2020

“Don’t be surprised if you get a little choked up when you can’t equip the young hero well enough for them to survive their run-in with the vampire queen.”

I Played It, Like, Twice…

All Souls Bound Just Contrariwise: Yo Ho Ho and a Game of Rum & Bones

By Orrin Grey • July 23rd, 2020

Raid the high sea and manage a ton of miniatures!

I Played It, Like, Twice…

Clack Clack Clack: Searching for Rules in Vast: The Mysterious Manor

By Orrin Grey • June 30th, 2020

If it has animated skeletons, Orrin’s all about it.

I Played It, Like, Twice…

Well, We Warned You: Playing Horrified During a Pandemic

By Orrin Grey • May 22nd, 2020

Everything about Horrified echoes the Universal films in ways that will make fans of the original monster franchises grin.