I am playing Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Tag Force in PPSSPP "PSP emulator for Android".
In this game I want to build a deck where I can special summon "Tyranno Infinity" from the graveyard during the battle phase.
For now, I am planning to use "Call of the Haunted" for revive him during the battle phase, but, I wonder if "Limit Reverse" can be used as well – since I want to use low-ATK monsters and "Limit Reverse" is unlimited = 3 copies.
My main question is as follows:
Can Tyranno Infinity be revived with Limit Reverse – during the battle phase?
This is due to – by checking the rulings of "Limit Reverse" in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Spanish Wikia said (translated):
You cannot select a monster with ? ATK in the Graveyard for activate "Limit Reverse".
Ava: Happy new Monday everybody! Welcome to another new week on Shut Up & Sit Down, but also, sorry, it might be a quiet one. The whole team is already absolutely piled up with preparation for AwSHUX, the incredible free online convention that we’re running from the 22-24 October. A whole host of previews, panels, games and joy is just around the corner, but we’ve got to assemble the whole lot of it. Matt’s reverted to tech-goblin mode, Tom is figuring out how to film previews in a whole new place and Quinns has a pile of games bigger than I’ve ever seen. They’re even making ME do some actual work. Unfair.
But it’ll all be worth it, because AwSHUX is, frankly, amazing. Loads of streaming with a huge range of special guests, a digital convention hall with more streams, previews and general showing-off, a discord server full of people playing and demoing games, and our live podcast and late night Q&A. It’s just so much stuff, all celebrating games and supporting the publishers that have struggled through a hugely challenging time.
So while we’re doing that, we’re pausing our video and podcast production. Does that mean you won’t get anything to watch and listen to? No! We’re going to be uploading some of our favourite panels and shows from the last AwSHUX to keep you company.
Right. I’ve got a puzzle to solve and some editing to do. Have a lovely week and I hope we see you at AwSHUX!
A Little More Conversation is something totally different. This card ‘game’ is barely a game at all, but more of a series of conversation starters, designed to get everyone around the table talking, reminiscing and generally enjoying each other’s company. Sometimes, we think that’s really the main aim of bringing a game to the table, and this one will take you straight there with no hesitation, deviation or repetition!
You can find all of the above and plenty more in our shop. Use the ‘stocking fillers’ filter if you only want to browse the small ones! Check back for more ‘top 5’ suggestions in the run-up to Christmas…
702.29a Cycling is an activated ability that functions only while the card with cycling is in a player’s hand. “Cycling [cost]” means “[Cost], Discard this card: Draw a card.”
602.2. To activate an ability is to put it onto the stack and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. Only an object’s controller (or its owner, if it doesn’t have a controller) can activate its activated ability unless the object specifically says otherwise. Activating an ability follows the steps listed below, in order. If, at any point during the activation of an ability, a player is unable to comply with any of those steps, the activation is illegal; the game returns to the moment before that ability started to be activated (see rule 730, “Handling Illegal Actions”). Announcements and payments can’t be altered after they’ve been made.
Triggered abilities that trigger from cycling also go on the stack, on top of the cycling ability (because the process of activating cycling will have finished before the triggered ability is put on the stack).
603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority. See rule 117, “Timing and Priority.” The ability becomes the topmost object on the stack. It has the text of the ability that created it, and no other characteristics. It remains on the stack until it’s countered, it resolves, a rule causes it to be removed from the stack, or an effect moves it elsewhere.
117.3c If a player has priority when they cast a spell, activate an ability, or take a special action, that player receives priority afterward.
Quinns: Hello! Is everybody ready for a three dayboard game party? We don’t have cake, gifts or music, but we do have board games, card games and (checks notes) even more board games!
Through that link you’ll find an Aladdin’s cave of content. There are treacherous piles of upcoming games, plenty of shiny new features, and even glimmering giveaways. Here’s a helpful list of what not to miss:
Over on our YouTube channel we have just this moment UNLEASHED six videos, each containing a bundle of previews of upcoming games, presented by Tom, Matt and myself. It’s ridiculous. Seriously, there are now hours of new SU&SD content for you to check out.
More than 30 hours’ of programming will soon start on our Twitch channel, which for the duration of AwSHUX resembles a SU&SD television channel! We’ve got panels, special guests, game shows, and an absolute boatload of programming where you can watch team SU&SD play unreleased games. Find the schedule in the above header image!
But SHUX isn’t just about looking at games, pawing at your monitor like a kitten at a window. This weekend you can play games free on Tabletopia – use the code SHUX2021AGAIN to get 7 days of free Gold Access! Here’s how to apply your coupon code.
Can’t find the game you want on Tabletopia? Try these other options: BGA (free), Sovranti (Platinum access through to Nov 30th 2021 with code SHUXfall21), Yucata (free), Boîte à Jeux (free), TTS (buy on steam).
Can’t find people to play with? This weekend, you can! If you just head over to the official AwSHUX Discord server you’ll find plenty of “open gaming” channels where you can find people just like you who are looking to set up a game. Alternatively, you can even have games taught to you by the publishers themselves in the #looking-for-demo channel!
Finally (and you can expect to hear a lot more about this on the site in the coming days), we’ve only gone and made another official stand alone SU&SD expansion for a game, this time the superb MonsDRAWsity with the fine folks at Deep Water Games. Here’s Tom announcing the project and the KS Notify Me page which I believe goes live on the 26th of this month, but if you’re just totally uncertain as to why you should be excited, you’ll find our podcast chat about Monsdrawsity on episode #123.
There are two new space-themed games coming to Kickstarter from 25th Century Games. Star Gazers is a tile-laying game with art from Vincent Dutrait while Observatory is a roll and write that has players mapping out the night sky.
In this video preview, Phil and I talk about how each game plays and our thoughts after a couple of games. These are two very different space games that are worth checking out.
You can checkout the Kickstarter campaign for Star Gazers and Observatory today.
A prototype of the game was provided for this coverage. Components and rules covered in this preview are not finalized. Read more about our preview policies at One Board Family.
This is the third in a series of InsideGMT articles from Paul Hellyer about his board game Tsar, currently on GMT’s P500. You can view the previous article here.
As the new year arrived in 1917, Russia’s Tsarist regime teetered on the brink of collapse. Public opinion had turned against it, its army was struggling in the war, the economy was falling apart, and the capital of St. Petersburg faced a severe food shortage. In late February, hungry workers went on strike, demonstrated in the streets, and looted granaries. The regime had a short window of opportunity to reassert control, but this proved difficult. Its most loyal and capable troops were away at the front, as was the Tsar himself. The Tsar boarded a train and ordered troops to return to the capital, but they all found themselves stranded on blocked railway lines. Some officials in St. Petersburg tried to use the unreliable local garrisons to put down the disorder, but the soldiers instead murdered their officers and joined the revolutionaries. Left with few options, Nicholas II signed his abdication in a railway car.
Tsar turns the clock back to 1894 when Nicholas acceded to the throne. To give players a chance to set a different course, the game aims to capture all the factors that ultimately led to revolution: public support, army and navy morale, the regime’s political authority, agricultural and industrial production, infrastructure, and external factors like international trade, foreign relations, and war. As you play the game, you can change the inputs and watch the game engine respond. The end result might be a repeat of history, a stable constitutional monarchy, a fearsome police state, or a dysfunctional kleptocracy hanging by a thread.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at these factors and discuss how they relate to the regime’s survival, starting with popular support. Tsar measures this in four key “Sectors”: Nobles, Bourgeoisie, Peasants, and Proletariat. One angle is the total level of support in all Sectors combined, which determines the number of Unrest Cards featuring incidents such as general strikes, demonstrations, insurrections, and assassinations. Another angle is the level of support in individual Sectors: different Sectors react differently to various events, with the Bourgeoisie and Proletariat Sectors tending to be more troublesome for the regime. Low support in the Bourgeoisie Sector triggers a recurring Dissidents Coded Card and trouble in any Sector can trigger economic production penalties. If support in any Sector falls to zero, players draw a Revolt Coded Card which can rapidly lead to revolution if left unchecked.
But as an autocrat, the Tsar doesn’t necessarily rely on public support. Depending on other factors, his regime might easily counter domestic opposition. One of these other factors is army and navy morale, which are also tracked on the game board. High morale gives the regime more options to suppress unrest, while low morale can itself become a threat to the regime—when morale reaches zero in the army or navy, a Mutiny Coded Card appears which can be even more dangerous than a civilian revolt. Another key factor in the military is the availability of “Elite Army Units” that always remain loyal. They’re based on historical regiments such as the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment that drew their officers from the ruling class. Assuming resources and transport are available, these units can always be used to put down strikes, revolts, and mutinies. But with only three of these units, they can easily become overstretched. That’s especially true in wartime, when players are pressed to send the best units to the front, meaning they are not immediately available to respond to internal threats —creating the same situation that brought down the real-life regime in 1917.
The regime’s political authority is measured by the game board’s “Order Tracker,” shown on the left. It consists of two parts, Fear and Reverence. Order is defined as Fear or Reverence, whichever is higher. Fear refers to the government’s reputation for oppression and punishment, while Reverence depends on the Tsar’s mystique and cultural authority. The former is easier to manipulate, but actions that raise Fear tend to come with negative side effects. For instance, you can opt for capital punishment for the Tsar’s enemies, but this lowers popular support in the Bourgeoisie Sector, which may trigger a dissident movement and lead to a cycle of violence.
When Order is high, the regime has more options for responding to domestic unrest and maintaining military discipline. The highest levels of Order often allow the regime to silence its critics through surveillance and intimidation without the expenditure of any resources, whereas lower levels of Order may restrict the regime’s ability to issue orders and use force. But as with popular support, high levels of Order aren’t necessary to the regime’s survival. If you govern through popular consent, you won’t need the most oppressive options offered by the highest levels of Order. This lets players aim for different models of stability, emphasizing either Order or popular support. Having a coherent strategy is important: once you commit to political reforms that lower Order, you need to be vigilant about maintaining popular support; if you alienate the public through Fear, you need to be vigilant about maintaining Order. Avoiding extremes is also important: you need to maintain some minimum levels of popular support and Order, regardless of your strategy. High levels of public unrest will eventually exhaust the regime’s resources, while a total collapse of Order triggers Coded Card 8 (Revolution) and ends the game.
As in real life, the Russian economy affects the regime in many ways, and so the game leans heavily into resource management. The game board tracks five key economic factors: income for the treasury, grain production, industrial production, transport infrastructure, and international trade. The regime needs cash to pay troops, advance government programs, and keep the Tsar happy. Grain keeps the population fed and functions as Russia’s key export in this time period. Industrial production drives the development and maintenance of infrastructure and the military. A robust transport network is needed to move grain from the countryside to cities and ports, to move and supply troops, and keep the economy functioning. Finally, the regime can’t import or export unless it has willing trade partners and infrastructure such as ports and canals. Through trade, the regime typically earns cash through grain exports and (on occasion) pays to import industrial products. All these economic factors are connected and a failure in any one area will weaken the regime, either by angering the public, lowering army and navy morale, or limiting the regime’s scope of action.
Finally, the game tracks foreign relations, which affect trade levels, access to credit, the regime’s reputation, and the possibility of war. France was Russia’s main creditor in the late Tsarist period, and the game creates opportunities for loans and financial aid conditioned on relations with France. Relations with other countries can affect trade, Russia’s international objectives, and the possibility of armed conflict. The game captures the effects of soft power through state visits and reactions to Russian cultural exports; it also captures foreign reactions to Russia’s internal politics—for example, too much political oppression can trigger rebukes from Western nations, while performative amnesties can improve the regime’s public image abroad.
War is the most significant aspect of foreign relations. In real life, war was the catalyst for revolution, both in the incomplete Revolution of 1905 and the February Revolution of 1917. The story of Nicholas II could not be told without war. When war arrives, you’ll find that Tsar is not a traditional war game of tactics. War is treated at a macro level and we’re mainly concerned with the way it affects the regime’s stability. Outcomes mainly depend on the economic factors discussed above and the regime’s ability to maintain internal cohesion. The effects of war may include blockades, public unrest, economic stress, and faltering morale. For instance, drafting a large army reduces grain production, while at the same time increasing the cost of paying and supplying the soldiers. In short, war will present the regime with a stress test.
Notice how all these different factors are connected to each other. Nothing stands on its own. Popular support affects the economy, and the economy affects popular support. The regime’s troops need economic support, and the economy may need the intervention of troops. Healthy trade levels are needed to develop the economy, and a healthy economy is needed to develop the infrastructure for trade. So there are many feedback loops in the game, which can be either positive or negative. When things go badly, the game reaches a tipping point where revolution becomes inevitable.
Watching these feedback loops and forecasting the regime’s stability is an important part of gameplay, because victory conditions are radically different for games that end in revolution and games that end with the Final Scoring Card. If the regime survives to the end of an Era, players win according to their VP scores, based on their Faction’s policy objectives. Gold that they stole through corruption is deducted from their VP scores. But in multiplayer games, revolution ignores VP and awards victory to the player with the most gold. You’ll need to closely watch the game board for signs of collapse and consider what the other players are thinking: when everyone at the table loses faith in the regime’s survival, they’ll focus on hoarding gold through corruption, which accelerates the slide into revolution. In solitaire games, revolution means you lose—so your first goal is always to avoid revolution, which requires careful long-term planning and perhaps some desperate measures at the end.
As a final note, I’ll share some thoughts about the regime itself and its depiction in the game. In real-life terms, was the regime’s collapse in 1917 a good or bad outcome? My feeling is that the late Tsarist regime occupies a morally ambiguous space, comprised by its many atrocities and failings, and yet relatively benign compared to the Stalinist regime that followed. But whatever my views may be, I don’t try to convey them through the game. My aim as designer is to make a game that’s enjoyable to play, historically accurate, and thought provoking. I’m content to let players create their own narratives through the choices they make and form their own opinions about the regime’s place in history.
In the next InsideGMT article in this series, we’ll focus on the players’ factional objectives and scoring.
I’m trying out a few Go programs (UI+engine or combined) and have a couple of questions about Leela (v.0.11).
In the analysis mode, some of examined moves are highlighted in color. What do reddish, bluish, yellowish tints mean? Available documentation does not give any clue.
I’d suppose that analysis is made from the point of view of Leela, and that red color is bad (a weak move), but this contradicts to the picture imho, because the red point looks favorable – at least at the current position, until the opposing player occupies it.
BTW, I did not find a way to switch the side of analysis, that is it’s always performed for Leela, and not for the player (human) – am I correct that it’s impossible?
Finally, the game provides 2 files – Leela0110.exe for CPU and Leela0110_OpenCL.exe for GPU. Unfortunately, no matter which one I run, the program always loads CPU 100%, not GPU (AMD). At the same time I tried out Leela Zero (with Sabaki UI) and it utilizes GPU for 100%. This shows that the device and drivers are functioning normally. Yet Leela does not use GPU for some reason and does not show any error messages or logs. What could be the problem and how to solve it?
This week we assembled the whole editorial team for our 2021 Christmas Gift Guide – with everyone picking a small handful of games that are excellent gifts AND currently actually available to buy!*
Below you’ll find links and a brief description of each game, but for more detailed explanations and recommendations, be sure to listen to the podcast episode that’s paired with this post – in which the whole team go through these individual choices. Thanks for reading and listening along, and do share the article or podcast if you think it’s a valuable resource for others this year. Much love from all of us – LET’S GO!
Super Skill Pinball: Ramp It Up
Players roll one set of dice that everyone then uses, choosing the next nearby location with a matching die-face to send their pinball pinging off towards. Push your luck and achieve killer combos, or take the safer option? This pinball-inspired Roll & Write that plays up to 4, but our very own Tom Brewster swears that it shines brightest when played alone for high-scores. A small box of shiny, ridiculous delights. Perfect for pinball enthusiasts or solitary thinkers – just maybe don’t mention which of the two you’ve got them pegged as. Check out our review.
The Fuzzies
Alternate-reality Jenga designed by aliens, The Fuzzies is a surprisingly compelling exercise in denying physics their right to exist – players take it in turns to remove a fuzzy ball from anywhere on the tower, placing it in a higher location than it previously sat. A tiny handful of rules later, and you’re good to go – with the real joy slowly settling in as you realise that these strange grippy things behave in a way that almost feels like magic. This small, lightweight crowd-pleaser requires dexterity and deftness that not everyone has, but it’s joyful to behold – even if you aren’t playing. See it in action here, in our full review.
A multiplayer re-imagining of the Choose Your Own Adventure genre – three small stories of choices and challenges, muddled together with truly gorgeous components. Replaying through scenarios to find the optimal solutions, you’ll be tasked with small physical mini-games to pass challenges. Sky-scraper capers and exploring Koala Cove, this is a colourful, modern take on a classic style of game that older folks will be well-familiar with.
The small-box code-cracker that continues to delight. Two teams must work to communicate safely with one another, while not giving away so much information that the other team are able to intercept their codes. Tougher to teach and play than the mega-hit Codenames, but vastly more rewarding. A SU&SD classic we just can’t get rid of – this cerebral party game might be your next family favourite. Watch our review!
Another dramatically simple set of rules that achieves more than you’d expect – this orange box of questions each has a numerical answer that players need to estimate by offering a range of numbers that they think will contain the answer. Really though, this one requires no quiz-skills to master: party game silliness means that much of the game is less about getting things right yourself, and more about correctly estimating who you’ll think around the table is most likely to have nailed it. Discussed in Episode 101 of the podcast! Oh, and if you’re unfamiliar with the beautiful language – check out this video for the Welsh version of the game.
Tile-laying puzzler with adorable bears. Collect strangely-shaped enclosures and then strategically place them on your empty plots of land, turning the chaos of bad shapes into something neat and tidy. Gently making shapes and filling gaps in your playerboards doesn’t get smoother and nicer than this – the ideal gift for those who prefer quieter games, with minimal confrontation. Although you’ll still get stressed about where to put the toilets. Watch our full review here, including the monorail expansion.
The tightly-packed version of a classic. Players must choose whether to persist with progress in expeditions they’ve already embarked on, or play it risky and start new adventures in tandem. Tricky choices and rapid hubris make this an easy crowd-pleaser. If you’re a fan of rolling dice and then writing things down, for Ava’s money this is the best gift available. Discussed in Episode 154 of the podcast!
A huge hit in the party game scene, and for good reason: there aren’t many games this clever that only require a handful of brain cells to comfortably play. A single player must guess the correct word – everyone else must guide them towards it by writing down a single-word clue, with the caveat that all duplicate clues will be erased before the guessing player sees them. A collaborative gem that takes moments to teach, and rapidly becomes raucous. Discussed in Episode 90 of the podcast!
A two-phased auction game that is light, immediate, and deeply silly – while also dripping with simple thematic charm. Will you end up stinking rich and owning a castle, or spending 15k on a cardboard box? Tactical & smart and yet lucky & light, this is a beloved classic for good reason. Discussed in Episode 99 of the podcast!
A family board game of bold exploration – build up a personal deck of cycling cards that you’ll successfully use to snag the treasures of El Dorado. Players race across an expanded board of large hexagonal tiles, in this – the most board-game-looking game of this year’s recommendations. A beloved classic by Reiner Knizia – who is widely regarded as being “The Best”, and we probably shouldn’t have spent years representing him as a deranged man in a grey wig failing to pilot a spaceship. Check out our full review of the base game, and the expansion.
The family game that Matt simply won’t stop recommending, this push-your-luck game of brewing risky potions is a joyful experience from start to finish. Earn gold to buy ingredients that you’ll then randomly pull out of your own personal bag, hoping that you won’t go too far and explode your cauldron in the process. Raucous, loud and comedically unfair, you only need look at how grubby that white token in the photograph above is to get a sense of how many times this gem has hit our table. Check out our full review, which features a frankly misguided use of paint cannons.
Hubris and silliness finally tie the knot: in SPACE. This modern classic has finally seen a reprint, and you’ve every reason to be excited – players assemble ships from a communal collection of face-down tiles, peeking and placing whilst working against the clock. The fabulous/terrible ships you’ve each constructed will then be put through their paces in the field, as you attempt to lug cargo from A to B whilst keeping your rapidly-assembled ship in one piece. If drastically unfortunate strokes of poor luck sound like the ideal recipe for a great night, this is the one you want. Watch the digital version of the game in action here, in which Matt went head-to-head against Tom.
Finally – after an extended length of time in which this game was sold out – we hope you’ll allow us to be VERY CHEEKY here and give a brief plug for a game that we made. The Serious Nonsense Box is a stand-alone expansion to the game Monikers – a beautifully produced party game in which you’ll play through several rounds, trying to get your team to guess the title of as many cards as possible – whilst against the clock.
In the first round you can say almost anything, or even just read out the card’s descriptions – but by the final round you’ll only be able to act out the titles using silent charades. What initially sounds impossible becomes a magic trick in familiarity, and we took this formula and honed it further to specifically amplify the capacity of players to be naturally funny, writing hundreds of new cards and keeping the cream of the crop.
If you want a comedy party game that doesn’t feel the need to get grim or punch-down, we’re pretty proud and confident of what we’ve crafted here. But don’t just take our word for it, obviously! Check out someone else’s review!
Got a geek in your life who’s hard to shop for? Welcome to our latest Festive Top Five: Gifts for Board Game Geeks. The following are all fairly recent releases or slightly obscure so it’s unlikely they’ll already own them, and they are also all very good indeed!
The Red Cathedral is a bonified ‘small box stonker’ that manages to pack all the complexity, interest and replayability of a full-sized Euro game into a very moderately sized (and priced) package. The components and artwork are excellent too.
Welcome to the Moon is a full-blown sequel to the excellent Welcome To. This time, the box comes complete with ALL SORTS of goodies, including eight sets of different player sheets (all dry-wipe compatible) and a ‘choose your own adventure’-style campaign mode. Deciding where to write a number has never been so much fun!
Watergate is a super-thematic, two-player game in which one player takes on the role of the Nixon administration trying to bury signs of wrongdoing, and the other the free press trying to uncover what they’ve been up to. With great components, bags of tension, and stacks of historical detail, this game tells a memorable story every time.
Fort is a curious and characterful deck builder about making a cool fort, eating pizza and making friends – all the most important aspects of being a kid. Don’t be fooled by the theme though: there’s a grown-up level of depth and interest here, not to mention exceptional artwork on every card.
Quest is a remake of Avalon, one of our favourite hidden role party games in which loyal servants of King Arthur pit their wits against wily Minions of Mordred who are trying to secretly sabotage their effects without revealing themselves. Quest brings stunning artwork into the mix as well as a STACK of new roles to keep things spicy over multiple play-throughs.
Find all of the above and a whole lot more in our shop. We’ll be back with more ‘top fives’ in the next few days as the countdown to Christmas continues…
