This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
You can be an adult without giving up asking for toys at Christmas! Let’s ignore the scarves, watches and other vouchers for a beauty afternoon and offer games to the whole family, to spend the Holidays wild!
In Everdell Forest
It’s been a long time since we wanted to talk to you aboutEverdell, but, victim of its success, the game was recurrently out of stock in Quebec. Rightly so: just like the excellent Root with whom he shares an animal universe close to the writings of Beatrix Potter, every detail ofEverdell has been the subject of attentive care, to make it a playful monument of art. These are rabbits, moles, bats and other mice, each with a job, that you will have to recruit to make your village the most beautiful in the region. Enthroned in the center of the board, the big tree adds a third dimension to the game. Thanks to it, we feel the universe of the forest. One has the impression of evolving in its branches or along the river which bypasses its roots. Everything else is in keeping; from resource tokens in various shapes and materials, to the illustrations of the cards and the board. It’s very simple, we always come back to Everdell because each part immerses us in a soft and fantastic universe.
The pleasure of the game is not left out. Everdell is intended to be as much a game of resource management, worker placement as card selection. You place your workers on the board to collect various resources that you will need to buy resident cards or build buildings. The puzzle is that each structure can accommodate one resident for free. Therefore, is it better to pay for the doctor and benefit immediately from his skill or wait to build the university first to have it for free… at the risk of having it stolen by another player in the meantime? There will be a thousand decisions to make, but with only one action per turn, players won’t have time to get bored. Accessible, beautiful to cry and fun for all audiences, Everdell instantly took a place on the podium of our ideal toy library. A real Christmas gift!
Everdell, 1 to 4 players, 90 minutes, Matagot, $90.
Stun your opponents!
Four schools of magic, up to eight players around the table and spells flying in all directions: this is what stupefy!which transposes the mafia system of the game Cash ‘n Guns in the Harry Potter universe. stupefy! is primarily a game of bluff. It takes place over eight rounds with the aim of collecting the most points to make his house triumph – will the Hufflepuffs finally show a little brilliance? Each player has the same eight spell cards, including failed spells and stupefy, so one for each round. We choose one secretly, then each player points to a victim with his wand. We take a break while everyone considers their solutions: launch a Protego and escape an attempt at petrification? Launch his stupefy? Or, do nothing, hoping that his opponents have bluffed. Then, the spells all fly at the same time and the cards are revealed. Players who have not been stupefied participate in the sharing of rewards, represented by cards that will be the object of all desires.
Endowed with metallic reflections, dressed in interlacing and representing potions, objects or characters from the film, the cards are truly magical to look at, while benefiting from various advantages which will affect the final tally of points. We feared a soulless adaptation, but the publisher did a superb job on the material, from the eight unique wands faithful to the design of the films to the box that turns into a points urn during the game. Fast, intense game that provokes many bursts of laughter, stupefy! will be perfect for large festive tables. It will never have been more fun to shout “40 points for Gryffindor!” »
Stupéfix!, 4 to 8 players, 40 minutes, Repos Prod, $65.
Duels at the top
Creating a game that allows eight players to have fun without downtime is a real challenge. Challengers remedy this by offering you a simultaneous championship, a succession of short duels (a few minutes) based on cards, where you will change opponents at each round. Only the top two will make it to the Grand Final. Each duel is interspersed with a phase of selecting cards with varying strengths and powers: you look at five cards from the draw pile and choose two to add to your deck, which allows you to refine your strategy and maximize the impact of his cards by combining them together. Then, it’s off again for a new round of duels, a kind of gaining ground, where our champions will try to take the advantage over those of the opponent. Apart from a few flaws (the rules are confusing to read, while in the end, the game is very simple), and a graphic design that lacks charm in our eyes, Challenger is a real nugget of fun, where young and old will compete with the same pleasure.
Challengers, 1-8 players, 40 minutes, Z-Man Games, $55.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.