Components are obviously an integral part of games. Some games are beasts when it comes to components – boasting large numbers of included components to bolster the gameplay. And then you have games that have mastered the art of gameplay utilizing a minimal number of components. Cosmic Run: Express is…
Author: Laura Rodriguez
As you may have read in our bios, we are located in the Quad Cities – right on the border of Iowa and Illinois. If you’ve never been to Iowa, you may not believe me when I say that we are home to a theme park called Adventureland. It has…
Say what you will about social media, but all these different platforms have really allowed Purple Phoenix Games to grow into something pretty special. We get to share our love of games with everyone, and we get to communicate with fellow designers, publishers, and all-around board game enthusiasts! And that’s…
I think that I’ve mentioned in some of my previous reviews that I rarely buy games without first having played and/or researched them beforehand. Enter Breakdancing Meeples. One fine day, I was perusing the fine stock at my FLGS. While I was wandering and debating whether I should buy Reef…
Picture this – it’s a nice sunny day, playing at a park or going on a hike, and you find a shady spot to sit down and eat a picnic lunch. As you enjoy your meal, so do a handful of other creatures…..ants! A couple of crumbs here or there…
When we decided to start this board game review group, coming up with a name was definitely a challenge. We threw out so many ideas, my head was spinning with the possibilities! In our name search, someone suggested Purple Phoenix Games. It sounds cool, we all like the color purple,…
If there is one game theme that will never get old for me, it’s fantasy. Something about a world of magic and magical creatures is fascinating to me, and I will never turn down the chance to play any sort of fantasy-themed game. So when I came across Magical Friends…
I don’t know about you, but one of my guilty pleasures is monster movies. Godzilla, King Kong, even the Jurassic Park franchise – if there are giant creatures terrorizing the world, chances are I’m going to love it. So when I heard of Terror in Meeple City (formerly known as…
The genre of roll-and-write games has really taken off recently in board gaming. Although the mechanic is not new by any means, its fast rise to popularity has put it on the radar for many gamers. I have played a variety of roll-and-write games, but only personally own one –…
I will be the first to admit that I am no master chef. When it comes to cooking, the easier the recipe, the more likely I am to make it. That being said, as I grow older in my adult life I have started taking steps to make better (and…
Getting the group together for game nights has always been a struggle – especially now (at time of writing) in this Covid world. So finding good games for 1-2 players has become a priority for me recently. Enter Odin’s Ravens, a 2-player race across the world. Does this game soar…
This has probably been mentioned before, but I love Marvel superheroes. My favorite has got to be Spider-Man, hands down. Feel free to send me an email if you’d like to hear my thoughts on who is the best Spider-Man – Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, or Tom Holland. I’m getting…
One of the coolest things about the board gaming hobby is how it brings people together, and Old Salt is the prime example of that for me personally (Laura). I met the designer back in college when we were both in the University of Northern Iowa School of Music. We…
When it comes to games, bigger doesn’t necessarily always mean better. You get monstrous games with hundreds of components, and people go crazy for it. But does a game really need all that to really be a success? Uh-Oh! is a minimalistic party game that aims to challenge that way…