Welcome to The Game Shelf!

After getting into the board game hobby at the end of 2014, we've decided to share our thoughts on the games we're collecting on our shelves. The collection has certainly expanded over the last few years and we've been making up for lost time!

Sometimes our opinions differ, so Amy will be posting reviews every Tuesday and Fi will post on Thursdays. We hope you enjoy reading some of our opinions on board games - especially those for two players.

Get in touch by emailing thegameshelfblog@gmail.com

Thursday, 28 May 2015

Thoughts from the yellow meeple:- Star Realms



Game title: Star Realms

Designer: Darwin Kastle

Manufacturer: White Wizard Games

Year: 2013


I bought Star Realms on a visit to Ecclectic Games in Reading, UK. As you would expect the staff in the shop are keen gamers and very knowledgeable. After discussing my game collection and mine and Amy’s current love for Dominion, we looked at some 2-player deck-builders and narrowed it down to Star Realms and Ascension. Give the different price point of the two games (around £13 and £25 respectively) and Amy’s love of all things space, I opted for Star Realms. The current ranking on Board Game Geek didn’t hurt either, at #54.



Star Realms is a spaceship combat deck-building game. Each player starts with the same deck of 10 basic cards, which have a total value of 8 Trade and 2 Combat. Trade allows a player to buy Ships or Bases from the trade row on their turn, whilst Combat deals damage to an opponent’s Authority or destroys their Bases if this can be achieved in one hit.

Tuesday, 26 May 2015

Respect mah authoritah:- Star Realms


Game title: Star Realms

Designer: Darwin Kastle

Manufacturer: White Wizard Games

Year: 2013



Looking out the starboard viewport little could be seen but a sea of destruction, the blob attack had hit hard, destroying the trading post and the recycling centre and scuppering most of the civilian vessels that didn't flee in time. The trade federation was finding it hard to keep a grasp on this sector, but they wouldn't give up, the sight of 2 shuttles escorting a flagship would bring hope to the beleaguered  citizens and their machine cult allies would soon rebuild from the wreckage. They were going to hit the blobs back, and they were going to hit hard.
 

 

Star Realms is a competitive deck building game where you start with a small fleet of basic ships which you expand upon by buying more ships from the central Trade Row. You need to balance your deck in consideration for the 3 main resources: Trade (which acts as the money to buy new cards), Authority (which acts as your health), and combat (which is used to deplete your opponent's Authority).