Second Look—Pleasant Dreams

Second Look - Boardgame reviews in depth. Check out that cat.I had originally seen Pleasant Dreams at the Indie Megabooth during PAX East this year. The small package and beautiful cards left an impression for sure. Aerjen Games sent over a copy, and I sat down to play it with my 9-year-old son.

The game is simple. Try to stay asleep while making sure the other player wakes up. It’s a push your luck game where you’re drawing 1-5 cards from the deck and resolving them against your wakefulness. Some cards start to wake you up, but can be flipped over and reseeded into the deck with a much worse fate for the player who draws it. You’ve also got 2 of several different one-use cards to effect card play.

Pleasant DreamsThe game is quick. Usually around 5 minutes. It’s very tense as you can draw some really nasty cards that instantly put you in danger of losing. The art on the cards is both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. I was a bit worried my son would have nightmares, but he really dug ever aspect of the game. I think it had something to do with him beating me horribly.

Sometimes something quick and easy really hits the spot, and Pleasant Dreams fits the bill perfectly. A bit of tense, push-your-luck action with a bit of a take-that element. This one is actually in my bag right now to take to an upcoming lunch with my buddy.

A copy of Pleasant Dreams was provided free for review by Aerjen Games.

 

  • Comments Off on Second Look—Pleasant Dreams

header_imageThe Indie Mega Booth was actually my first stop at PAX. Crammed with tiny tables, there were a ton of cool looking games either for sale or about to head to Kickstarter. I even saw my old friends at Zephyr Workshop showing off A.E.G.I.S again. I was hoping to get back to the booth to demo a bunch of the games, but I ended up seeing a LOT more than I would have thought, and couldn’t get back there in time.

Titans Tactics by Imbalanced Games

Titan TacticsTitans Tactics is a 30 minute skirmish game were teams of 3 champions face off against each other. The game uses cards, so there’s very little randomness and a lot of tactics and planning involved. You can snag the game on Amazon for $25.

Mahou Shojo by Deerfox

Mahou Shojo“Fight like a girl”, Mahou Shojo is a 2 player game about battling magical schoolgirls that’s currently up on Kickstarter. Targeted at girls, the game features cute artwork that doesn’t fall into many of the Anime stereotypes these types of games are usually known for. There’s actually 2 open play test decks available for download if you’re interested in giving the game a shot: The Bakery Deck and The Garden Deck.

Skiptrace

CameraZOOM-20150306094252487Skiptrace is a cheeky game of moonlighting agents trying to complete missions. With stunning, minimalistic cards, players get targets, objectives, resources, locations, and itemss and have to complete their mission. The game has some pretty awesome cards, and a wonderful look and feel.

Pleasant Dreams

Pleasant DreamsPleasant Dreams has you trying to take control of your dreams to have a pleasant night’s sleep. Players go back and forth in a game of tug-of-war trying to create good dreams for themselves while slipping terrifying visions on their opponent’s dreams. The game is currently available for $20.

Mech Deck

Mech DeckThis game is right up my alley. Mech Deck is a game of giant robot combat where pieces of your mech can be blasted off and rendered useless. Lighter and more approachable than some larger mech games, I can see this one becoming a real hit. A modular board system and customizable mechs mean replayability should be high with this one.

The Shadow Over Westminster by Counter Clockwork Games

CameraZOOM-20150306095353422The end of the world approaches and The Agency must put a stop to it. The Shadows of Westminster is a deckbuilder mixed with a cooperative board game. Players must do research to find out what’s going on in order to stop whatever evil is threatening to destroy the world. Sometimes, one of the agents is actually the evil and then proceeds to try and kill everyone.

Divorce

DivorceDivorce is a game about just that. Players take the role of a married couple trying to get the most our of their divorce as possible. If you can’t get something, you can always make sure the other person doesn’t getting by burning it down or somehow destroying it. You even need to take into account the kids in the whole messy affair. Sounds like your cup of tea? You can preorder it here for $20.

Bad Detectives by Forced Output

Unfortunately my picture of Bad Detectives didn’t come out that great. It’s a shame, because it’s a game you really need to see (so you can just hit that link to the left). In the game you play a bad detective trying to look good by solving cases. You do this by linking up all the information you have with thumbtacks and string. Solid connections are good! Broken connections, no so much. You’re basically trying to tie as much information together as you can while trying to trip up your fellow bad detectives. It’s actually really hilarious.