X and Write Games: Mini Reviews
X and Write Games: Mini Reviews
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Grab your pencils!
Grab your pencils!
And get ready to draw, cross off and strategize your way to victory!
Roll-and-writes and flip-and-writes are some of the best bang for your buck games out there.
They used to be less complex games, but now, there's an abundance of complexities, themes and styles of gameplay.
Keep on reading to get an overview of some of the great options available to you!
Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write
Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write
Cartographers
Cartographers
Get On Board: New York & London
Get On Board: New York & London
Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write
Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write
Publisher: Pandadaurus Games
Designer: Brian Lewis, David McGregor, Marissa Misura
Player Count: 1-4 players
Play Time: 30-45 minutes
Mechanics: Connections, Dice Drafting, Dice Rolling, Network and Route Building, Paper and Pencil, Resource Management, Worker Placement
“In Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write, your goal is to build the best dang dinosaur theme park you can! You do this by collecting DNA to make Dinosaurs, hiring Specialists to use their unique abilities, and building Attractions and special Buildings to enhance your visitor experience.
However, Dinosaurs are dangerous, and if you don't put some effort into keeping your park secure, you might just "lose track" of some of your visitors...
All of your progress (and missteps!) will be marked on your Park sheets, where you draw the layout of your park, store and spend resources, and record your progress. At the end of the game, you each score your performance, and whoever has the highest score wins!” 1 - Description from the publisher
In Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write, you are building a dinosaur theme park by drafting dice that give you resources and spending the resources gained to build dinosaur enclosures and attractions which are drawn on your player board.
You will gain points once you do a “walk-through” of your park. The more dangerous and exciting your park is, the more points you will gain. But make sure to keep the park safe! If you don’t, some of your visitors might get eaten by your dinosaurs!
You will need to manage your resources carefully as you will spend them to either get the biggest and badest dinosaurs or on concession stands and rides. You might also want to spend your resources on certain specialists that will help to keep your park even more secure, develop dinosaurs faster, or even help make your park more exciting.
After three rounds of drafting dice, spending resources and walking through your park, the total scores are tallied and the highest score wins!
For whom is Dinosuar Island: Rawr 'n Write?
For whom is Dinosuar Island: Rawr 'n Write?
If you enjoy roll and write games, optimizing how resources are spent and maximizing available space, Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write is definitely one to check out!
If you are looking for a game where you are going to think quite a bit, where there’s quite a bit of “crunch”, Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write is a must!
Obviously, if you love the Jurassic Park/World movies, the theme will definitely please you.
There is a little bit of interaction with other players, but not much. If you enjoy LOTS of interaction, maybe it is not for you. The same is true if you want a solitaire game.
Does Crunchy recommend Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write?
Does Crunchy recommend Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write?
Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write is a wonderful game! Dinosaurs, quite a bit of “crunch”, great artwork, some interaction, but not necessarily “mean”, it has a polyomino tile placement feel to it, and the Jurassic Park-inspired components are good, especially for the price (great bang for buck!)… That sounds pretty good, no?
Oh! And did we mention dinosaurs?
Score: 8.5/10
If you enjoy Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write, this one a try
If you enjoy Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write, this one a try
Twilight Inscription
Twilight Inscription
Subastral is pretty much the same game as Stellar, but for up to five players. Subastral uses many of the same mechanics as Stellar, however, the scoring system varies as well as the theme. The illustrations were done by Beth Sobel, so you know it’s a very pretty game. Some of Beth’s other work: Wingspan, Cascadia, Calico, etc. Talking about Calico:
Cartographers
Cartographers
Publisher: Thunderworks Games
Designer: Jordy Adan
Player Count: 1-100 players
Play Time: 30-45 minutes
Mechanics: Grid Coverage, Paper and Pencil, Simultaneous Action Selection, Variable Set-up
“Queen Gimnax has ordered the reclamation of northern lands. As a cartographer in her service, you are sent to map this territory, claiming it for the Kingdom of Nalos. Gimnax’s edicts announce which lands she prizes most, and you will increase your reputation by meeting her demands.
But you are not alone in this wilderness. The Dragul contest your claims with their outposts, and so you must draw your lines carefully to reduce their influence. Reclaim the greatest share of the Queen’s desired land and you will be declared the greatest cartographer in Nalos.
In Cartographers, players compete to get the highest reputation at the end of four seasons. Each season, players draw on their map sheet and score against unique conditions at the end of the season. The player with the highest reputation at the end of the year is declared the winner.” 2 - Description from the publisher
Cartographers is a flip-and-write game in which you are mapping out the land which is revealed one card at a time. The revealed cards determine the terrain type as well as the shape that will need to be drawn. Some cards might give you an option of terrain, shape or even get bonus coins (Yay, gold!).
You will need to place each polyomino shape strategically as you will be scoring points based on the season you are in.
But not all flipped cards are fun and games. There are monsters in the land. However, one of your opponents will place it for you. And these monsters are worth negative points!
The only way you can mitigate their effect is to cover every space around them with terrain.
You add your scores at the end of every season and once all four seasons have passed, you add up every season's score and the player with the highest score wins!
For whom is Cartographers?
For whom is Cartographers?
If you like tile placement games but are hoping for a quicker set-up time and a smaller table presence AND gives the possibility to have a good brain burn, definitely check out Cartographers.
Does Crunchy recommend Cartographers?
Does Crunchy recommend Cartographers?
Cartographers is a go-to for introducing tile-placement mechanics and decision-making/strategy development. Also, everybody enjoys drawing, which helps keep any level of board game player interested!
The variability of the objectives, the different strategies one can take to optimize their points, and the easy-to-understand rules make this game a must-have for everybody and every collection.
Cartographers also has multiple expansions which add to the game and help with the potential redundancy.
Score: 9/10
If you enjoy Cartographers, give This one a try
If you enjoy Cartographers, give This one a try
Calico
Calico
This is another easy-to-understand game but that can get your little hamster going hard.
Draft and place tiles and maximize your points by completing specific colour and pattern requirements.
Get On Board: New York & London
Get On Board: New York & London
Publisher: Iello
Designer: Saashi
Player Count: 2-5 players
Play Time: 30 minutes
Mechanics: Connections, Network and Route Building, Paper and Pencil
“Create the best bus line in London and New York! Optimize your route to transport passengers and strategically leave your opponents stuck in traffic.
Reveal a card and plot the ideal route to cross off the best passenger and place spaces. Complete your objectives and try to get the most points in this delightful game of urban strategy that’s perfect to play with family and friends!” - Description from the box
In Get on Board: New York & London, you are working to optimize your bus line. Your personal objectives will help determine what will constitute an optimized bus line along with the number of passengers (students, tourists and business people) to their desired locations and you get bonus points if you take them to “hotspots” like Times Square for tourists or Wall Street for business people.
Through a flip-and-write mechanic, every round will have a revealed card that will tell you which direction/shape your route will need to take next. You have to plan strategically by paying attention to which route shapes are left to be drawn and if going through traffic is worth the trade-off (as it imposes negative points on your final score).
For whom is Get On Board: New York & London?
For whom is Get On Board: New York & London?
Get on Board: New York & London is easy to understand which makes it great to show to new board game players and its 30-minute play time is a good fit to start or finish a game night with a game that offers strategy without completely turning your brain to mush.
It is also great for those weeknight evenings when you would like to play a game but don’t want it to take up the entire evening.
Does Crunchy recommend Get On Board: New York & London?
Does Crunchy recommend Get On Board: New York & London?
With its myriad ways to score points, Get on Board: New York & London has an interesting challenge. Even though the concept is simple and straightforward, you cannot do everything. What will you prioritize?
The negative scoring point imposed by traffic makes you think two or three times before going in that direction, which adds to the challenge.
The artwork is compelling, the game is smooth (no big issues with the gameplay) and for the price, the components are very good.
Score: 8/10
If you enjoy Get On Board: New York & London, give this one a try
If you enjoy Get On Board: New York & London, give this one a try
Next Station: London
Next Station: London
Nest Station: London is another route building flip-and-write similar to Get On Board: New York & London.
However, you rotate through which subway line you are working on each round AND each subway line colour has their own special ability!
Next Station: London was a 2023 Speil des Jahres nomiee, which simply means: It's a good game!
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