Here's a new video that we made for Fallcon 22. This is just to whet your appetite for Fallcon 23! Hope you enjoy it!

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Louis XIV – Review

Louis XIV is an area control game designed by Rudiger Dorn in 2005 and is currently published by Rio Grande Games. Mr. Dorn also designed Goa and Jambo. This review was originally posted on BoardGame-Reviews.com.

Louis XIV:

• Designed by: Rudiger Dorn
• Published by: Rio Grande Games
• Number of players: 2-4
• Playing time: 100 min
• Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

Each player is a member of Louis XIV’s (also known as the Sun King) Court and carry out missions and goals at Versailles.

Players, through the careful playing of influence cards, secure favours from other members of the Court. Each of these 12 members of the Court provide various items to the players which help fulfill missions and thus earn victory points.

Securing favours from these 12 courtiers (represented by 12 board tiles) is determined by the player with the most influence markers.

The player with the most victory points wins.

Game Play

On a player’s turn, he plays an influence card. The influence card can either be a curtain (wild) or indicate one of the 12 members of the Court.

Each courtier card is worth up to 3 influence markers which the player places on the board from his personal supply. Instead of playing on the board, the player can choose to add 3 influence markers to his personal supply from the general supply.

The wild influence cards are valued at 2 influence markers.

When placing influence markers on the board, the player places markers starting on the character on the card. The wild influence cards allows the player to start at any courtier.

The round ends after all but one of the influence cards are played. Then the winner of each of board tile is determined and receives their reward.

Play lasts for four rounds. The winner is the one with the most victory points after four rounds.

Observations

I like Rudiger Dorn’s games and this one is no exception.

Louis XIV can easily be played in about 45-60 minutes by experienced players and provides a lot of enjoyment. Setup time for this game may take a couple of minutes or so but it is worth it.

In the game play above, I didn’t mention anything about Louis XIV but his presence is very subtle. You see, Louis visits one of the 4 courtiers closest to him every round and grants a gift to the winner of that courtier.

This provides yet another way to obtain tokens to fulfill mission cards.

So you see, there are quite a number of things that a player has to keep track of in this game. And that is something that I find quite enjoyable.

I have played this game with all the player counts and I enjoy each one of them. A 2 player game is great fun and a 4 player game provides much angst.

What a delight!

Happy gaming.

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King of Siam – Review

King Of Siam is an area control game designed by Peer Sylvester. It is currently published by Histogame. (This review was originally published on BoardGame-Reviews.com)

King Of Siam

• Designed by: Peer Sylvester
• Published by: Histogame
• Number of players: 2-4
• Playing time: 30 min
• Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

It is 1874 and the king of Siam (now Thailand) has introduced some contentious reforms resulting in a struggle between three factions, the Malays, Lao and the Royalists.

To stay strong between the colonial powers of the British Empire and French Indochina, King Chulalongkorn must ensure that unity is preserved.

Players use action cards to move factions into and out of the eight Siam provinces and ensure that Siam isn’t colonized. Each card played gives a player influence in one of the three factions.

The winner is the one with the most influence over the winning faction.

Game Play

Each player is dealt the same number of cards. From these cards, the player has, on his turn, a choice to play an action card or pass.

If an action card is played, the action is taken and the player then removes a follower from any province on the board.

The provincial struggle is ended when all players pass in succession. If there is any tie between the three factions, the British arrive and forcibly take control.

The game ends immediately when the British control four provinces or after eight provincial struggles.

Observations

I bought King of Siam because it is not a widely available title and it had strong recommendations from fellow boardgamers.

It is a mentally involved game and doesn’t provide the necessary fun for me. Thankfully, it is also a very short game and can be played in about 20-30 minutes.

The scoring in this game is key to play. And the better you understand it, the better your chances of victory. Also, of the games that I have played, there have always been ties so it is also best to understand the tie-conditions too.

All in all, it is an elegant series of rules and winning conditions that make this a clever game.

Unfortunately, it is not my kind of game.

Happy gaming.

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We've received a number of great submissions for the Canadian Game Design Contest. In retrospect, we feel that we didn't give folks enough time to submit designs, especially considering we only made the announcement via the blog. As a result, we've decided to extend the contest by another 2 months. The new deadline is now May 31st.

To make things fair for the designers who have already submitted their entries, these designers may send in a single revised version of their submission (including photos & rules). All entries should be sent to designcontest@fallcon.com.

We look forward to seeing your designs! The entries so far have been very promising.

Jasen & Brent
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