Author: travis

May 7, 2019 /

I usually like to create some fanciful intro to my reviews to get you in the setting of the game and in the mood to be entertained and educated about the game in question. I have failed this time. You’re a monkey trying to throw coconuts into cups. Coconuts (2013)…

May 2, 2019 /

You know the story: the imp (gnome?) that tricked that one lady into promising him her firstborn child in return for spinning hair into gold? You remember? And then she can get her child back if she can guess his true name? Well this game has nothing to do with…

April 30, 2019 /

I’m a sucker for Marvel. Not necessarily the comic books, though the ones I have read have been pretty good. But I’m a sucker for Marvel games, movies, shows, gear, etc. I saw this on sale at my FLGS and had to have it. I finally was able to get…

April 24, 2019 /

Do you appreciate your friends and your relationships with them? If so, please read no further. Do you want to dissolve your friendships and cause your family members to wonder what went wrong with you and never trust you again? Play The Resistance: Avalon with them. The Resistance: Avalon (2012)…

April 12, 2019 /

Who knew that a game, whose loose translation in English is “Ogre Ball” or “Demon Spirit, ” could pack such a 2-player punch, have a checkersesque simplicity, but also the depth in strategy that can be found only in its inspired creation. PPG encourages you to try, what we find…

April 9, 2019 /

Mazes. So simple, yet for some reason, so entertaining. Well, for me at least. Who knew that winding your way through a maze to get from Point A to Point B could be such a hit? Combine traversing through a maze with building your own maze of sorts, and you’ve…

April 5, 2019 /

Oh, Valeria. How I do love thee! I have reviewed Valeria: Card Kingdoms (VCK) in the past and if you read that review you learned that it is my favorite game of all time (as of the date of this composition). I actually Kickstarted Villages of Valeria (VoV) before even playing VCK…

March 19, 2019 /

Two grandmas duking it out to see who can sew the mightiest quilt of all time! They have a limited time and some questionable patch choices. Can Granny Ethel work in that huge three-button patch? Will Big Mama Sue go for the small square patches to completely fill her rows…

March 15, 2019 /

The Land needs you, Druid! It is plagued, barren, in need of revitalization and only your Circle can cure it and bring vivacity back to our home. Earn as many VP crystal shards as you can to defeat the other Druids and re-beautify us! Mystic Vale (2016) Alderac Entertainment Group…

March 13, 2019 /

I’ll be honest with you. I’m a big A Game of Thrones fan. We watch it religiously on Sunday nights at my dad’s house. Now, when I say “we” I mean my brother Bryan, my dad, and me. My wife has zero interest in it, and it’s really not her…

March 8, 2019 /

Brain burners. We have all played them. They typically aren’t my cup of tea because usually when I get to play games it is later in the evening. By that time I have had a full day’s work, taken care of a toddler (or more depending on when you read…

March 4, 2019 /

“Yer a hero, Travis!” … said no Hagrid to me ever in my life. However, I do enjoy playing heroes in my board games. As Robin Hood you live by few rules: rob from the rich, give to the poor, and save your fellow Merry Men. That dastardly Sheriff of…

March 1, 2019 /

ALERT! This game has railroads! ALERT #2! This is NOT a train game! That makes ME feel lots better. Right now in my life train games and war games scare me. I don’t have the time, and frankly I do not think I am quite smart enough for either. But then this…

February 27, 2019 /

So I am building a kingdom with these land pieces and I can just make my kingdom look however I want? Oh, I have to stay within a 5×5 square but my castle can go anywhere? And I can pick any one of those tiles in that column there? That…

February 22, 2019 /

We at Purple Phoenix Games love Kickstarting games. We probably do it more than we should, but I am sure we are not alone in this. I, myself, have backed 59 games or game-related products to date (as of February 2019). Not all of them have been that good (I’m…