games – Page 2 – Tiana Feng

Exploding Kittens

August 10, 2015Board Games, EntertainmentLeave a Comment

I finally received my copies of Exploding Kittens aka the most funded Kickstarter thing like ever. It is a game created by Elan Lee, Shane Small and Matthew Inman, who we all know as The Oatmeal.

I contributed more than $30 so I received both the regular and NSFW set (which is actually a great deal). I also received a mini personalized poster.

The regular deck when opened up actually meows and reveals a photo of a cat vomiting rainbows. The NSFW deck is more of a normal box but the cards in sign are legitimately ridiculous.

Can you guess which cards are NSFW?

The instructions are fairly simple. Before you even finish unfolding the instructions they recommend you just watch a video. The object of the game is to not get an exploding kitten. Here’s that video:

See it’s fairly simple and the new greatest game ever.

Adventure Time’s Card Wars

April 17, 2015Board Games, Entertainment2 Comments

When we saw Finn and Jake play Card Wars in an episode of Adventure Time, we wished so hard that it was a real game.

And it turns out it is. A single Card Wars Collectors Pack is approximately $20 and has two decks so two people can play right away. I decided to buy all the decks out so far (I think they will release more later). That way, we can switch it up and games would be different each time.

One thing to note is that it is exactly like the game in the episode meaning that the Adventure Time characters (Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum etc) aren’t actually part of the deck. Though you can imagine you are one of those characters if you wish. In fact, there is a “Hero deck” (optional) that exists where you can pretend you are characters from the show and gain special bonuses. The cards are actually ridiculous made up characters with hilarious descriptions in brand with the show. There are landscape cards, spells and even punch out hit points so you are fully ready to go in each box.

Like in the show, the winner of a match is damed the “Cool Guy” and the loser the “Dweeb”. Players try to protect their land so that their “Hero” (yourself) doesn’t get any hit points. Certain monsters need specific landscapes in order to work. The game is a lot of strategy, fun and laughs.

Dollarama Review: Bejeweled Blitz

March 24, 2015Board Games, Dollarama Reviews, Entertainment, ShoppingLeave a Comment

One of the biggest treasure troves of Dollarama is its toy selection. I wish I had such a cheap selection of toys at my disposal when I was a kid. Anyways, recently I picked up Bejeweled Bitz, a game that began originally as a Facebook game.

The box comes in a nice case of 84 cards that have two gems on each. There are also 7 plastic boost gems you collect for extra points.

The game is played by drawing cards and making lines of cards. Matching 3 in a row combines those cards into a deck. Chains can also be made as a result (like the real game). The game is over when the deck runs out. The winner is the person with the most points. Points are calculated by counting the numbers of cards in your largest pile. The jewels count as 5 extra points each and are obtained by being the first person to make a row of the corresponding shape.

The game is a lot of chance, but there’s some thinking involved to in terms of where you place the cards. For $3, this was actually worth it as it’s a great adaptation of the mobile game.

Life on the A List

January 2, 2015iOS, Technology, Video Games1 Comment

A few months ago as a social experiment (fine I sort of wanted to play it), I downloaded Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. The beginning of the game was fast moving. There were tons of things to tap on. I worked in a clothing store, bought a house, bought furniture, dated boys and then Kim Kardashian started invited me to parties in different cities. After a few hours of play, it started to get a lot slower and my energy bar needed to be refilled. Obviously, I didn’t play to pay the game. But I wanted to know if it was possible to get on the A-list without spending money.

Energy refilled every few minutes. However, without premium money I couldn’t do things like make connections with people at bars or pursue a serious relationship. People didn’t seem to want to talk to you very much unless you had money. This resulted in the A-list being a bit harder to reach. Some fancy clothes also cost premium dollars. I decided to pursue the game wearing things that I would actually wear in real life. After a few weeks, I did make the A-list and quit shortly after.

I don’t know what lessons were to be gained from all this. Be yourself? Or probably, don’t waste money on pretend things in a superficial game.

I Won 2048

April 19, 2014Entertainment, iOS, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

I was late to the 2048 train. I only got the game last week and I finally beat it yesterday. I feel strangely accomplished.

In playing it a couple hundred times, I realized there is sort of a strategy to it, even if I didn’t exactly figure out where the “2s” spawn. Towards the end, I came close to winning many times and then finally did so by keeping these things in mind:

Stack numbers. Start by pressing left or right until you can’t, then go the other direction.
Don’t go down. When you have enough stacked, go up. Don’t go down. Going down leads to death. Alternatively you can only go down and avoid going up.
Get rid of 2s in the top corner ASAP. Turn the 2’s into a higher number ASAP so you don’t get stuck.
Careful with 2s and 4s beside each other. Think carefully when this happens and get unstuck or this usually leads to death.
Remember to feed yourself when you get addicted to playing the game.

This Ain’t No Piece of Cake

September 27, 2013Board Games, EntertainmentLeave a Comment

This board game is named Piece O’ Cake. However, when you assemble it and put it together, it is clearly pie.

Anyways, the object is to gain as many points as you can by eating the most out of the matching pieces. You also gain points for discarding (or forfeiting) pieces you know you won’t have the most of.

Simple enough. Here’s a photo of a sandwich, just because.

Anomia, Topple, Carmen Sandiego, Labyrinth Board Games

May 30, 2013Board Games, EntertainmentLeave a Comment

Another day at Snakes and Lattes led to more board game adventures. This time there was four of us, which opened up more possibilities and challenges.
In The aMAZEing Labyrinth players pushed the maze in different directions until they could reach all their treasures. The funny part about this game was that the treasure cards and the ones on the board sometimes looked nothing alike.

Like the TV show, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? you solved crimes by answering geography questions. I suck at geography but some of the questions were obvious and the board (which was a map) definitely helped.

We couldn’t figure out how to play Pairs in Pears because the instructions were gone. Even after we looked it up on our phones I still think we played wrong because as we chose our 26 tiles none of us had enough vowels to make any words!

Topple is pretty self-explanatory and none of us ended up toppling it over. So do we all win?

My favourite discovery of the day was Anomia, the card game. Players took turn flipping over cards from the deck. If we had symbols that matched we had to yell a thing related to what the card said. For example if it said “Seafood” the opposing player with the same symbol had to name a seafood. The player who collected the most cards won. It was hilarious when players pointed to the matching card but couldn’t get the right word out!

My First Loot Crate!

May 28, 2013May 28, 2013Shopping, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

I was so excited when I found out that Loot Crate started shipping to Canada that I signed up right away. It’s a monthly subscription of nerdy gifts to your doorstep. It’s $19.99 for US residence and $29.99 for Canadians. Each month the boxes have a theme. May’s theme was EQUIP.
Inside the box was a card that explained all the product’s relationship to the theme. I also received a membership card since this was my first crate. There was also this $10 digital subscription to Pure Nintendo for iOS and Android so I could be equipped with nerdy news on the go.

This ninja by The Dojo is for wrapping your tangled earphones. I assume I received pink because I registered as a female.

These stickers (via Fred & Friends) are for making your inanimate objects come to life. Hmmm.. maybe now I won’t look so crazy talking to my computer.

I think my boyfriend is going to love this 8-bit tie from Black Tie Geek.

The box contained a DC figurine at random (The Flash, Green Lantern and The Joker) and I was lucky enough to get Batman. Woohoo.

In reference to Douglas Adams’ May 25th towel day we were equipped with this silly towel from Graphic Lab.

Like Mario, we were equipped with a question mark box of coins. These ones were edible and surprisingly strawberry flavoured.

I really enjoyed building this Iron Man figurine from Mini Paper Craft.

I’m loving my Loot Crate so far. It is full of great childhood memories, nerdy references and most of all encourages playfulness.

If you’d like to check out Loot Crate please use this link to help me save on my next box!

The Curse Of The Spermagotchi

April 22, 2013April 22, 2013iOS, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

As a kid growing up in the 90s, I was really excited when the Tamagotchi L.i.f.e app came out. I had a million virtual pets when I was little including the nano sumo fighters, babies, pikachu pet and of course the original Tamagotchi.

When I first got the app, I had all the notifications turned on and took care of the virtual pet’s every need. I even played games instead of feeding it candy to increase its happiness. I ended up with this guy:

The infamous Spermagotchi. My least favourite one of the pets. So I killed him.

This time I opted for a more neglectful approach. I fed him candy instead of played games and did not heed to it right away.

I GOT THIS GUY IN ANOTHER COLOUR. I killed it again.

The third time I had no strategy, but I switched it over to classic mode.

I deleted the app.

Board Games: King of Tokyo, Ricochet Robots and Survive!

April 8, 2013Board Games, EntertainmentLeave a Comment

I had not visited Snakes and Lattes post-renovation until a few days ago. The wall between both sides had been torn down, resulting in a much more open space. The bar became larger and the front area a big storefront for board games.
Picking completely random things from the shelves are my specialty so I chose King of Tokyo.

In the game you choose a monster and literally try to take over Tokyo. A set of die is rolled to determine what happens: gain cubes to buy cards, attack, gain victory points. The first to 20 victory points or the last survivor wins.

Ricochet Robots is like that ice maze in Mohagony Gym in Pokemon Gold:

Except with robots.
The person who solves the most puzzles in the least amount of moves wins.

This Survive! board game had a lame slogan like “A Sea Full of Dangers and Oceans of Fun”.

The game is from the 1980’s and I have to hand it to them, it was quite entertaining. The island in the middle disappears as you take turns flipping parts of it over. The premise of the game is to try and get as many of your people to the safe islands as possible with some people worth more points than others. The board is full of distractions such as whirlpools, sharks, sea monsters and whales that make life much harder for your coloured dudes.

Post-renovation, Snakes and Lattes had a few new things on the menu including a Nutella Latte.

Of course, I tried it.